Play #41 (Make-up #9) - The Last Time We Saw Her by Jane Anderson
This is a little ten-minute play in which Fran comes in to talk to her boss Hunter about the fact that she is gay. He tells her he has no opinion about this either way, but she continues: she would like to tell everyone in her division so that she can stop feeling like she's hiding something. The conversation then becomes about why she would bother telling anyone. Fran describes the distress she experiences, always fearing that the truth might slip out. Hunter poses increasingly odd and inappropriate questions, attempting to demonstrate that there is no real reason to discuss her sex life in the work place. What he doesn't understand, however, is that what she wants to discuss is her life, not her sex life. She has a partner of eight years who she refers to as her roommate. She hides from her coworkers, she feels like she is unable to be who she is. In the end, she is completely frustrated by Hunter's blunt, absurd questions about her physical pleasure and attractions. The play is a pretty effective little snapshot of the disconnect that occurs in this kind of conversation. Why does anyone need to know you're gay? Well... why does anyone need to know your wife is your wife, that your children are your children? The question is about identity, not about sexual behavior, and it is the identity that is being swept under the rug, using sex as the excuse.
This is a little ten-minute play in which Fran comes in to talk to her boss Hunter about the fact that she is gay. He tells her he has no opinion about this either way, but she continues: she would like to tell everyone in her division so that she can stop feeling like she's hiding something. The conversation then becomes about why she would bother telling anyone. Fran describes the distress she experiences, always fearing that the truth might slip out. Hunter poses increasingly odd and inappropriate questions, attempting to demonstrate that there is no real reason to discuss her sex life in the work place. What he doesn't understand, however, is that what she wants to discuss is her life, not her sex life. She has a partner of eight years who she refers to as her roommate. She hides from her coworkers, she feels like she is unable to be who she is. In the end, she is completely frustrated by Hunter's blunt, absurd questions about her physical pleasure and attractions. The play is a pretty effective little snapshot of the disconnect that occurs in this kind of conversation. Why does anyone need to know you're gay? Well... why does anyone need to know your wife is your wife, that your children are your children? The question is about identity, not about sexual behavior, and it is the identity that is being swept under the rug, using sex as the excuse.
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