Show-and-Tell Blog Post: Alice Gerstenberg's Fourteen

Basic Information

Well, since this is my last blog post, I guess it’s only fitting that I come full circle and read a play by the first playwright we discussed in class. Alice Gerstenberg’s Fourteen was originally published in Drama Magazine in 1920. (Theatre History Website) I was unable to find a ton of information concerning productions. However, I do know that Fourteen was performed at the One Act Play Festival in 2011 in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada. (Elliot Lake News) This play was also presented in a series of six short plays by and about women in 2007 in the East Village, New York. (New York Times) I was able to access this play through the North America Women’s Drama Database.

Basic Plot

Fourteen features three characters: Mrs. Pringle, a fashionable matron; Elaine, her daughter, a debutante; and Dunham, the maid or butler. The entirety of this play takes place immediately before Mrs. Pringle’s dinner party. The number of guests is originally to be fourteen. However, because of a blizzard, the guests cancel continually, and the characters scramble to adjust the seating arrangements. First, the characters attempt to add or eliminate guests in order to avoid having thirteen at a table. As more guests confirm or cancel, other concerns arise. For example, the family adjusts the numbers so that the father can sit at the head of the table. In addition, Mrs. Pringle has invited one of the guests, the wealthy Oliver Farnsworth, to dine in the hopes that he will marry Elaine. As the chaos builds, Farnsworth cancels, causing Mrs. Pringle to denounce him and social life. At the height of her mania, it turns out that Farnsworth has sent the Prince of Wales and his bodyguard to dine in his stead. As a result, the number is back to fourteen, and an elated Mrs. Pringle hopes to marry Elaine off to the Prince.

Dramaturgical Choice #1: Duration

One significant dramaturgical choice pertains to duration. Gerstenberg chooses to assign all the stage time to the preparation for the party instead of the party itself. At first, this seems like an odd choice, considering how much Mrs. Pringle builds up the dinner. However, I think Gerstenberg assigns the stage time to the preparations in order to show the intricate details attached to social life. These details, while seeming inconsequential, hold enormous weight for the characters. For example, the characters work themselves into a frenzy in order to avoid the number thirteen or to allow the father to sit at the head of the table.

Mrs. Pringle ignores all else in an attempt to maintain the etiquette of high society. She places Elaine’s (and, therefore, her own) social position above all else. Mrs. Pringle goes to great lengths to ensure that Elaine will sit beside Oliver Farnsworth. When Elaine says that it is useless to sit next to him, her mother says, “Aren’t you going to try to make a good match for yourself? I fling every eligible man I can at your head. Can’t you finish the rest yourself?” Gerstenberg spends so much time on the details, exposing their ridiculous intricacies, that determine Mrs. Pringle’s social position.

Dramaturgical Choice #2: Progression

Gerstenberg also makes a dramaturgical choice pertaining to progression. Namely, Gerstenberg foreshadows the Prince’s arrival by discussing him earlier in the script. When Mrs. Pringle and Elaine discuss Oliver Farnsworth, Elaine says that he intimidates her as much as would the Prince of Wales. Mrs. Pringle then says, “The Prince of Wales! Oh! What wouldn’t I give to have the Prince of Wales in my house! New York has lost its heart to him. I was just telling Mr. Farnsworth yesterday that I’d give anything to have the Prince here. I would establish my social position for life!” The prospect of the Prince's arrival is dismissed as an improbable fantasy.

I think that Gerstenberg foreshadows the Prince’s arrival in order to indicate that there will always be a chance to climb higher on the social ladder. When the Prince of Wales is first mentioned, he is an unattainable hypothetical, representing the hopes for extremely high social position. Before the Prince arrives, Mrs. Pringle has become so frustrated that she forswears the intricacies of social life. However, when the Prince actually goes to Mrs. Pringle’s house, his arrival snaps the matron out of her mood. As a result, her mind immediately turns to social climbing.

Comments Part 3

Silence Will Fall When The Question Is Asked: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore

Josh Allred Script Analysis Fall 2013: Next to Normal


Script Analysis By Madalyn!: Topdog/Underdog

Stephanie's Script Speculations: Water by the Spoonful

BTurn2130: Next to Normal

Morgan's 2130 Script Analysis Blog: Topdog/Underdog

Next to Normal

One Hornby element in Next to Normal that caught my attention is tempo, particularly in the music. The tempo choice that intrigues me happens in “The Break.” This song moves at a frenzied pace as Diana reels from her relapse and runs to Dr. Madden. But then the tempo slows dramatically as Diana makes a revelation. As the music slows on page 90, Diana sings, “What happens if the cut, the burn, the break / Was never in my brain or in my blood / But in my soul?” This is Diana’s turning point as she leaves treatment and her family. From that point, she seems to have a sense of control over her life, as her remaining songs are slow and relaxed. I think that Diana has found her own capital-T Truth that differs from the conventionally accepted Truth of the psychiatrist. The sense of serenity that follows finally gives her the control to say an understated goodbye to Gabe.

One of my favorite aspects of this show is its ambiguity, especially regarding Gabe. What exactly is Gabe? During most of the show, the people in Diana’s life assume that he is simply a hallucination. But if he is simply a figment of Diana’s imagination, why does Dan see him at the end of the show? This also raises a number of questions. For example, has Dan been able to see Gabe the whole time? Would this make Gabe a spirit who can communicate to whomever he chooses, since Natalie never sees him?

I personally think that a key moment in my understanding of Gabe happens in the reprise of “I’m Alive.” After he reappears to Diana, Gabe sings on page 87, “Until you name me, / You can’t tame me—“ After this line, the stage directions say that Gabe turns to Dan and pursues him. Then, during the reprise of “I Am The One,” Gabe releases Dan when he finally acknowledges him and calls him by name. During the reprise of “It’s Gonna Be Good,” Dan refuses to say Gabe’s name, showing the depth of his denial. So, in the end, what is Gabe? I’m not entirely sure, but I think that it could be any one or a combination of choices. I think that the answer to this question can be subjective, just like Diana’s Truth. For me, his nature hinges on the element of naming that I mentioned above. I’m interested to hear other people’s theories on the matter.

Topdog/Underdog

Topdog/Underdog features two theatrical mirrors that initially seem unrelated—the Lincoln assassination and the three-card Monte. However, Parks connects these two theatrical mirrors through the observation that they are both rigged. Lincoln asserts that there is no true way for the Mark to win the card game. The only way for him to win, he states, is if the Dealer lets him. Lincoln also says that the Dealer is in supreme control of the situation, twisting the crowd’s attitude to his will. On page 410 he says, “Thats thuh Dealer’s attitude. He acts like he dont wanna play. He holds back and thuh crowd, with their eagerness to see his skill and their willingness to take a chance, and their greediness to win his cash, the larcerny in their hearts, all goad him on and push him to throw his cards, although of course the Dealer has been wanting to throw his cards all along. Only he dont ever show it.” The Dealer’s total control over his Mark ensures that he will never win.

By the same token, the outcome of the Lincoln assassination is absolutely certain. Lincoln’s job at the arcade is planned in a way that ensures that the customer will always be able to shoot Lincoln. On page 404 Lincoln says, “Theres some feet shapes on the floor so he knows just where he oughta stand. So he wont miss.” In both the card game and the arcade game, Parks draws attention to the fact that the outcome is certain because the Dealer and the game creators make it so. However, unlike the card game, the Lincoln assassination is set up so that the customer will always win. In the card game, Lincoln is in complete control, whereas he has no control over the outcome in the arcade game. Lincoln can only sit as “Booth” puts a gun to his head and shoots him. This parallels Lincoln’s lack of control when his boss replaces him with a wax dummy to cut costs.