Date of Award

5-2004

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Campus-Only Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

Advisor

Elaine Ford

Second Committee Member

Patricia Burnes

Third Committee Member

Constance Hunting

Abstract

"All is Fair" is a play I have written as a creative thesis for my Master's degree. It is a full-length play in two acts, and its primary focus is on illuminating the elusive nature of love. Obviously, any attempt to truly explain romantic love is a fool's quest, so I have peopled this play with fools. Six of them, to be precise. What was initially an attempt to re-tell Plato's "Symposium" quickly devloved into something simultaneously less cerebral and more entertaining than Plato's dialogue. In that sense, I guess it is a tribute to love, a phenomenon which is itself, at its best, less cerebral and more entertaining than any play. The play tells the story of six young men nursing hangovers who decide that rather than put themselves through any further alcohol-induced suffering, they would rather stay in and talk, an all-too-rare occurrence in modern times. What initially starts as a wager to see who has the best story about love, becomes a sometimes genuine exploration for the young men into what they think love really is and why it matters. Love is a vague yet powerful word, and everyone, consciously or unconsciouly, nurses their own ideas of what it is. Usually we base these ideas on our own personal experiences, because what else do we really have to form our definitions of love? The characters in this play do the same, demonstrating through meta-drama their own experiences with the passion, heartbreak, indifference, confusion, and sheer absurdity that is love, in just a few of its many forms.

Download

Share