In Doris’ opinion, Stafford House is the worst place on earth. This is easily seen by the fact that she doesn’t ‘like to mix’. She prefers to be away from ‘daft old lasses who smells of pee’. She even confesses that she is prejudiced where hygiene is concerned. This is where her obsession for cleaning comes in. She can’t stand a little bit of dirt or anything. Everything has to be clean. This probably was the only reason she didn’t eat much because she would have to clean up afterwards, which was too much of a hassle.
She rants on and on about the gate not being closed and of the leaves that are going to be swept in by the wind. A boy, between the age of six to ten, comes in to the front garden and pees. I know that the lad must be of this age because Doris says it clearly in page 17, “young lad”, “cheeky monkey. He’s spending a penny” and “you little demon”. These three quotes state that the person was a young boy and also that he was peeing. I think that the boy must be aged between six and ten because a teenager would probably be embarrassed of urinating in public. A boy aged five or below would not be able to walk around on their own as they will get lost easily. So I conclude that the boy must be between six and ten. Doris shouts as he runs off. Doris sings ‘I’m H.A.P.P.Y’ and changes it to ‘I’m unhappy’ when she thinks about Zulema and Stafford House. Later in the evening, while Doris is asleep, a policeman knocks on her door and shouts for her, to see if anyone was home. She wakes up and tells him she’s alright. As the policeman goes, Doris sings ‘My Alice Blue Gown’ and sings herself to sleep. The light fades.
The main issue in this play is Stafford House. I know this because this is the only thing she talks more about than her husband. “Wouldn’t she be better of in Stafford House?”, “Don’t Stafford House me, lady”, and there are lots of areas in which she talks about Stafford House. The passing of the time is one of the two main issues because the whole play is based on the past and present. It is based on the life of Doris, which includes Wilfred, Zulema, her still-born child and her neighbours. “Doris and Wilfred. They don’t get called Doris. They don’t get called Wilfred. Museum, names like that.” This states that time has passed. It has grown older with Doris. The themes of this drama are pride and persistence. Doris is too stubborn and proud to go to the Stafford house. This is mainly because she doesn’t want people thinking of her as a weak person and she wants to live in the house, where she has been living for the past fifty years with all the memories of her child and her husband. She is determined not to go to the Stafford House and clutches to every excuse that comes her way. “I don’t want to be stuck with a lot of old lasses. And they smell of pee.”
I think this whole play should be set in a normal street of a quiet, old town. This is because Doris is an old lady, a standard elderly widow, who leads a normal life that can be said for the old people. If I had my choices I wouldn’t entirely change anything in the set. The inside of the house should be filled with more pictures of Wilfred and Doris throughout the years of them as a couple and also of their early stages of their lives. This will provide proof that the house Doris lives in is quite old and holds countless memories because we know that Doris has lived in this house for fifty years as the text says clearly on Zulema’s report, “she has lived in for 50 years”. This would be satisfying evidence because the photos would show the time that has passed between now and then and the stages of Doris’ and Wilfred’s lives will also be clearer.
The lighting that has been used in the set is acceptable as it is because it emphasizes the mood Doris is in and of the atmosphere of the house. The living room is where most of the play is set. This is the main reason why I’d like to suggest some changes in the set. The wallpaper of the living room should be cream bathed with flowery patterns. I’ve decided on this because this would make the living room look old-fashioned, which is exactly how Doris’ house should look like. The armchair, which Doris often sits on, should be big and old with a musty brown colour. This would show that the armchair was as old as her. There should be a medium-sized, maroon carpet on the floor with embroidery on them and, again, with flowery patterns in it. This would make the living room look darker. This would be a sign of Doris’ solitude and at the same time the carpet will make the living room seem more welcoming. The coffee table should be made from oak wood or from a tree similar to the oak tree. I want the table to be plain because I want people to think that Wilfred carved this table out of wood for Doris. It would be for memories and antiques. There should be a two-seater sofa, made up of wood and leather. It should look worn out. This will give the impression that the settee is quite old and will give the living room a touch of ancientness.
The fireplace in the living room should be made up of tiled red-brown bricks. I suggest this style for the fireplace because in the text in page 18, it says, “The edge of a tiled fireplace” and also in the old days most fire places were built up of bricks. This will make the living room look old fashioned. There should be a huge wooden cuckoo clock on the wall. This will emphasize the importance of the passing of the time and also because every house has a clock as it’s essential. The television-set must be small and square. This will be show that Doris does not watch that much television and also that the set is quite old.
I think this whole play was set in the early days of autumn. I think this because Doris says it clearly on page 16, “Some leaves coming down now”. That quote states that leaves are falling down which usually happens in autumn. From reading the whole script and also guessing, I’ve come to the conclusion that the play was set mostly between 0900 hours and 1900 hours. I believe that Doris must have fallen off the buffet around 1000 hours because she would not have dared to do any kind of cleaning in front of Zulema (as we know that Zulema comes to clean Doris’ house and check up on her every Wednesday morning). I know that this happened on Wednesday because Doris says on page 15, “I was glad when she’d gone, dictating”. Around 1600 hours, a ‘young lad’ comes and pees in Doris’ front garden. A policeman calls and knocks, waking Doris up, about 1900 hours. I think this mostly because it says in italic letters in the script, “It is getting dark” and also later on the policeman says, “Your light was off”. This would mean that it is night time and from autumn to winter, it gets darker quickly.
I would tell the actress who’s playing Doris to wear a pale blue frock, a white blouse and a blue cardigan. “She made me a little jersey costume I used to wear with my tan court shoes.” I think these clothing would make her look more like an ordinary old lady. It would show the audience that most old people go through these kinds of stages, everyday. Doris should behave like an average old lady. She should talk in a fragile voice with shallow breathing, when she speaks too much and too fast. This will give the viewers the notion that she’s not well.
As Doris talks about her life, she mentions people. We find out that in Doris’ eyes, Zulema is a bad housekeeper. From everything Doris has said about her, I know that Zulema doesn’t clean properly. “But Zulema doesn’t dust. She half-dusts. I know when a place isn’t clean”. Wilfred, Doris’ husband, is also mentioned a lot of times. I know for a fact that Wilfred is not the sociable type because Doris says is it clearly in the script, “we weren’t gregarious. We just weren’t the gregarious type. He thought he was, but he wasn’t.” Doris also mentions her ex-neighbours, who left or had passed away. “Folks opposite, I don’t know them”, “Used to be the Marsdens”, “Smartish woman after them” and “you lose tracks”. All these quotes tells me that Doris knew people in her younger days but now as she grows old, she doesn’t even know her neighbours.
The key moments of the play for me are when Doris talks about her still-born child and when she sings ‘My Alice Blue Gown’. These are the key moments for me because at both times, I pity Doris. When she talks about her still-born child, it makes me see how melancholy she is, without anyone to talk to or anyone who takes care of her and loves her. And as she sings the song, I think that this really grabs the audience’s attention as its depressing. She looks like a baby, instead of an old lady about to die, who’s singing a lullaby to herself. This tells me that she needs looking after, as she’s about to die, just like a baby would when it is newly born. This particular part highlights life goes round in a full circle.
There are italic letters used throughout the whole play. These letterings could be for stage direction on the play. It also tells us when the scenes change, where the scene is set or when something is going to happen in the play. The countless pauses could also be for the change of scenes, or when Doris is tired of speaking continuously or when she’s lost her memory.
There’s a huge part of the play that tells us that Doris is very obsessed with cleaning. “I bet you haven’t dusted the top of that”. This tells us even when she’s unwell she has to clean. She can’t stand even a little bit of dirt yet when she finds a cream cracker under the settee, she eats it, even though she knows its been there for at least a week. “Fancy, there’s a cream cracker under the settee. How long had that been there?” and later on she says, “Here’s this cream cracker. Naught wrong with it” then she rubs it and eats it. This time she doesn’t seem to be caring about hygiene. This is mostly because she was hungry, as she had not had anything to eat for almost a whole day.
At the end, Doris refuses the one chance she would have had to survive. She tells the policeman who knocks to check in on her that she’s ‘all right’. She says this because she is tired of fighting over her life and tired of living a lonely life. The reason she refused the help is because she wants to die and stop suffering. I think she dies at the end because we see signs of her being unwell, “She nips her other leg. This one’s going numb now.” Quotes like this has led me to believe she dies at the end, if not that night then the other day, because she wouldn’t be feeling fine and Zulema wouldn’t come until next week. There’s no one else who she knows, or anyone else who would check up on her.
I want the viewers to feel what I’m feeling about this whole play. There are many feelings that have been evoked by this play. Sadness, sympathy and love are the few things. Sadness comes from the realization of Doris’ death. Sympathy comes from the fact that she has no one to love her and is dying a lonely death and, finally, love is induced for our parents, as we would not, ever, even think about leaving our parents in that kind of state.
I want them to know how depressing it is to have no one to love or have anyone who loves you. I want them to feel for Doris and feel how gloomy her life has been in her old age. The whole play should make the viewers think of Doris and the sadness of the final days of her life and of any old person’s life.
From another point of view, I think this play is also trying to put across a message. ‘Never to leave your parents side when they are at an old age, because that’s when they need you. They looked after you when you were young and now it’s your turn to look after them and pay them back with all the love and kindness you possess.
Lebina Shrestha 10X4 Page
