https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ewoz5GoY-c6NZXQF6xvCyvWQ7cR5z_M6/view

I chose this play, “The Hot L Baltimore,” by Lanford Wilson because Wilson does a stunning job of creating a vignette of the everyday. This play centers around a run down hotel and it’s inhabitants which mostly consist of prostitutes and other colorful characters. Many of the scenes are comprised of mundane conversation about the hotel’s hot water, the train schedules, and mail. I chose this scene in particular because it employs a technique that Wilson uses in creating realistic conversation throughout the play where he uses overlapping or simultaneous dialogue. At times during this play, different subjects are being thrown around in conversation among different characters either all at the same time or rapid fire after one another. The first act ends in a cacophony of dialogue all at once and it’s fantastic. Not only does Wilson make each mundane topic interesting for each character, but typically the topics overlap in some way that gives more meaning to each that wouldn’t have been there without the other. He drops all sorts of symbols and motifs throughout the text in combining the realistically dull with the profoundly deep—each often tying in together hand in hand.

For this scene, the characters Jackie and Jamie, who are sister and brother, are talking to each other about their big plans to make bank and hit the road. They are unaware of onlookers Girl and Bill—Girl is a young, naïve prostitute staying at the Hot L and Bill works at the front desk of the Hot L (and has a crush on Girl). The two simultaneous conversations mimic real life: both are of separate content (Jackie and Jamie are talking about Utah, Bill and Girl are talking about how Girl should get some sleep), but also there’s an added layer because Bill and Girl are also providing a commentary on what they overhear from Jackie and Jamie’s conversation. This scene grapples with so many issues at once: 1) The conflict of Jackie and Jamie’s strained relationship as siblings and Jamie’s distrust for Jackie and her big talk, 2) It uncovers what the “American dream” looks like to Jackie and Jamie—to drive to Utah and start their own farm—and that they really believe so vehemently in this dream that they’ll do anything to get there (even if it means swindling and stealing by Jackie), 3) Girl and Bill’s relationship as friends, but Bill still wants something more—he cares for Girl so much and yet is always slapped in the face by stuff like “never sleeps” because she’s a prostitute and this theme is just recurring (and Girl’s oblivion to Bill’s feelings) 4) Seeing Girl care so much for these siblings/strangers she’s just met and wanting them to have what they want 5) And yet what does Girl have? She’s so young and has so little, and yet her life experience would tell us that she’s much older than she appears to be, 6) The mundane the mundane! Utah! Tea! Sleep!. The way the text is written, it seems like it’s up to the director to determine the order somewhat—but the alternating lines make sense in their content, even though they seem completely unrelated. They intertwine and weave through each other—question to question, answer to answer, some matching words—it flows in a natural way (though it definitely takes some thought when acting it).

Speaking of acting, the preparation for me was skimming through the script and remembering what this show is about and the different themes and characters that exist in it (last I read this play I was in high school). I sent out descriptions and backstories for each character to my classmates and tried to do the same for myself. I thought of Girl’s characteristics, objectives, obstacles, and desires. Not only in this scene, but in the play overall. I tried to remember her backstory and for the blanks I couldn’t fill with the text, I filled with my imagination. I then tried to think about her relationship with the characters in this scene at this moment, as well as over the entire course of the play. I also looked through the script to see what just happened in the moments before this scene and what big events happened before this scene in the play as well.