Our Reading

The reading on Saturday went really well! It was very interesting to hear the play be read aloud, as always, it's easier to find specifics having it been read out loud as opposed to scan reading in my apartment. A few details I missed before:

1. The running joke of "Ariel enters from one side, turns and turns, and exits the other side." I noticed that happened the first time, but I didn't notice how often she did it throughout the show. I think it adds to the absurdism of the play, which is where it needs to go immediately. Otherwise, the audience will get stuck in a realistic set of mind and the rest of the show will come across as bizarre rather than entertaining.

2. How massive the cherry blossoms are. We see them enter as they go into the forest, and I don't think they ever leave. I see a lot of cherry blossom designs on wedding invitations and wedding cakes, so I know it's not unusual for cherry blossoms to be a part of weddings. But I also recently did some research on cherry blossoms, and it seems they are known for their quick bloom; intense, beautiful, delicate, and fleeting. Because of this, they are often associated with the passing of life, which is described the same way. I really loved this idea, especially after reading the play aloud and discussing what the funeral scene meant. It was the remembrance of mortality that put people into true perspective of life, of marriage. Perhaps the overwhelming cherry blossoms were some kind of foreshadowing? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom)

3. When Father Thane enters the second time on the line, "I beg your pardon. I'm told there's been a death?" The stage directions follow with, "(And then he is immediately marginalized as the scene goes on...)" From there on to the end of the show, Father Thane is not able to complete a full sentence due to the constant interruptions. I'm not sure what this means, but he is the only character described as "marginalized". However, he is not left alone at the end of the play. James is. One would assume the priest, who vows to live a life of celibacy, would be alone at the end of the wedding play. But Julian leads him off the stage (which is also something that can be interpreted further as we know from earlier that Julian is in love with Father Thane). I find this incredibly interesting that in A Perfect Wedding, the priest is marginalized, while all of the other characters, despite their sexuality, culture, or beliefs, seem to iron on their differences. Perhaps this is a social commentary on how our society views religious leaders?

Those were a few things that came up for me that didn't come up in discussion. I was very pleased to see a few people from very different backgrounds in our reading, and it was so fun to hear them reading along with us.