I am currently planning a show and propose to perform Harold Brighouse's Hobson's Choice.

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Sohail Ali

Rutlish High School

22nd January 2004

Dear Mr Doyle,

I am currently planning a show and propose to perform Harold Brighouse’s Hobson’s Choice. This play raises some important issues, and I feel that students and their parents would ultimately benefit from seeing this work. You might ask why I have chosen this piece, while there are many other plays with well worked-out plots and themes, which could provide “food for thought” for our students.

The reason that I have chosen Hobson’s Choice is that it may be particularly beneficial to the majority of our school community, including teachers and parents. This is because the piece addresses the challenges of family life and of relationships between the generations. This work carries a strong message about the difficulties faced by both parents and children over the issue of independence. It portrays the struggle between a determined father and his three daughters.

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For those of you who have not seen this play, it tells the story of a man called Hobson who runs a shoe shop with his three daughters. He has always limited his daughters’ activities and denied them independence. The twist of the story comes when Hobson’s eldest daughter Maggie proposes to Willie Mossop, the boot-maker in her fathers shop. This infuriates her father as he had decided that she would not marry but look after him in his old age. The story deepens when Maggie and Willie make a shoe shop themselves which starts to run more successfully ...

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