Author: Patricia Cornelius
Published: 2005
Synopsis: Tanya and Annie meet in prison and fall in love. A deep bushfire-smoke strong love. Once released, Lorenzo slowly encroaches on Tanya’s territory and encircles Annie. All three are at the bottom of the pile, the refuse of their own lives. But their love shines and the threat of tarnish is the only real challenge they face.
What moved me: I think the mark of a great playwright might be their ability to make us identify with the people we would prefer to avoid. If I met Annie in real life I would become impatient with her dependence, or I would push Lorenzo from me in disgust. In Cornelius’s hands, though, I identify with their desire to be loved above all else. We all want this. Without it we are just slabs of meat.
Edit: After I wrote this I read the Author’s Note.
“To write about those who are forsaken, those we cross the street to avoid meeting, those we find ugly and loud and uncouth, those we call trash and miserable, and those who do terrible things interests me. To write these characters without sentimentality and without judgement, above all to place them in the world that has created them, is a challenge. As it is to capture the yearning, the excruciating desire for something else, something better, something kinder, pleasurable even, in these characters who don’t have the words, or peace of mind.” (Patricia Cornelius)
vimh 