Catching up on blogging with the return of internet... Some thoughts on Trestle at Pope Lick Creek

Some thoughts I jotted down after last Saturday’s reading of The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek:

I was very struck by the moment on p. 303-4 where Dalton and Pace are improvising their own adventure with the train, and Dalton says that he is killed by the train- “Of course there’s almost nothing left,” to which Pace replies “Yeah there was. There was a lot left.” And suddenly the moment isn’t about Pace and Dalton anymore, it’s about Pace and Brett. I also don’t think Pace loses her cool throughout the whole play. When she gets upset, she doesn’t raise her voice, that’s not her way.


I also wrote down the phrase “shadow play,” which really expresses itself in several ways. This play is in itself a shadow play, in that it addresses poverty and depression, issues that people like to keep sequestered to the “shadows,” not bring to the forefront as they are uncomfortable subjects. Most, if not all of the characters are in some way shadows of their former selves, and then there is of course the literal use of shadows made by hands in front of a candle.


Throughout the play there is also a connecting thread of needing someone else’s confirmation to affirm one’s own existence or identity. I see this manifested in Brett’s request for Pace to confirm that she saw Chas slap him, in Dray’s request for Dalton to touch him, and in Pace’s request to “watch me. Whatever you do. Take a good look. Make some notes. 'Cause one day I might come back here to find out who I was—and then you’re going to tell me.” (page 326) The role of touch in this play is very intricate. I think that in a staged production it would be especially apparent just how important and deliberate physical contact between two characters is- it is always specific and intentional. This relates to questions about having control over your body and what happens to it, whether that is going to work and having your hands turned blue by chemicals, or whether or not you get sliced in two by a train.


One thing I’d like to explore further are ideas about love and the expectations that accompany it in this play. Thoughts?