With "Mirror" , Bailey was the constant traveling companion who kept my alone moments sane and me on the straight and narrow. The actor's face playing him, Morgan Freeman's. There's a side of me that wants to share this with him. There's a side of me that doesn't, fearing he'll think my story just another piece of promotional bullshit designed to gain his backing. The latter side always wins out.
Below a critique on my "collaboration" with Mr. Freeman by an actress friend of mine, Monique Bourgery.
Mack,
Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. Read "Mirror". Loved it.
It's so topical. Sam's character is well developed and relatable. The banking crisis, our economy have put so many Americans in the same position.
Sam's relationship with Bailey is a great example of the inner dialogue that everyone has with themselves when they are healing or simply reexamining their lives. I really enjoyed the analogies that Baliey draws and the realness of his speech. When he describes Sam's life as a recipe that results in a meal that tastes like Styrofoam. Or when he compares guilt to money and tells Sam he's a millionaire.
Bailey is a great character and an essential element to Sam's recovery. Through Bailey, Sam grows and we see his climb out of depression into hope. It left me rooting for him. And that, after all, is what makes a great literary hero.
Then there's Sam's relationship with God that plays out through his interactions with other characters. How in the beginning of the play he tells Carlos to relate the story of the most famous bastard son to his sister's priest. How he continues to question God. The introduction of the Shelter's priest and their dialogues is also an interesting way to see Sam grow and challenge his beliefs.
The relationship between Caitlin and Sam was a great example of how Sam continually ruins the good things in his life by believing he doesn't deserve them.
I loved the simple staging with the use of props to depict different sets. From a technical view, it makes a play so much easier to stage and travel. It also lets the audience develop its own ideas of the setting and not force
them to focus on a stagemaster's idea of what a homeless shelter, rooftop, meeting room or priest's office look like.
A simple set further allows the audience to focus on dialogue and character interaction which, in this case, is strong and compelling.
I also loved how the tub remains on stage and bathed in different levels of light throughout the play as a constant reminder of how Sam got to where he was. The brightness of the illumination at the beginnng is reminiscent of how Sam's depression is and as it gradually goes dimmer, so does Sam's depression.
The play's ending was awesome. Sam's journey out of darkness is the most compelling theme. I loved how he crawls out of it enough to exit, but his journey is not over. If he had just gone back to the Love Interest/Caitlin, he would not have completed his recovery.
The fact he gets on a bus to continue his journey, even the fact he picks a bus, because there is no concrete destination is proof that it isn't over. He still has healing to do. Sam's journey becomes more credible, because he knows this.
His monologue at the end leaves the audience rooting for him, his continual self assessment and his relationships with his son, father and Caitlin. It gives the audience hope. And that's the reason it is such a great script.
I wanted to say one more thing about your writing. You really have a gift for dialogue. I find it one of the most difficult things to write without sounding contrived. Each character has its own speech pattern, dialect and personality. When I read a script I understand that the actor will bring these nuances to the character, but you do a great job of developing the characters so well on paper that I could almost see each.
I really appreciate you letting me read this script. See you soon.
Monique
Copyright 2012 Mack Edwards. All rights reserved.