PDF file: Drama - Higher - Lovers - Education Scotland

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38 OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY flowers in the middle’. We end the play with the clear affirmation that the enduring and pervading influence of the Catholic church continues to have a firm grip on Andy. • Hope: Andy has his dreams. The cosy picture that he paints of the accountant and his wife reflects what he wants for himself. • Imposed divisions: Hannah now sleeps in her mother’s bedroom. Andy sleeps alone. Develops characters and relationships Andy • Andy reveals that he is a pragmatist rather than a romantic when he informs us that one of the reasons he married Hannah was to avoid being sent to Belfast. • Andy is easily duped by Hannah and her mother. He doesn’t take a stand against going back to Mrs Wilson’s house after his honeymoon. • His monologue at the beginning of this Extract consolidates his role as the outsider. • His relationship with Hannah has changed. He is now a lonely, ostracised middle-aged man who would have been happier remaining a bachelor and living in his own cottage. • Andy manages to have one chance to get back at his mother-in-law. He is given the ideal ammunition to use. He lacks the moral fibre to reveal his devastating news about St Philomena in a sober state. His glorious drunken attack provides the climax of the play and proves to be his undoing. Hannah • We see Hannah in a state of distress at the beginning of this Extract. She is worried about her husband. She is given moral support by her mother and Cissy. ‘Trite words of consolation are being spoken. And one gets the sense of feminine solidarity and of suffering womanhood.’ • Once she realises that Andy is drunk she is devastated. In her eyes Andy has descended to the depths of depravity and his moral decay has an instant effect. • She sides with her mother against Andy. She can now justifiably do this with a clear and righteous conscience. • Our final stage picture of Hannah is one of an unattractive, cold woman who has lost any passionate interest in her husband. ‘Her coldness is withering.’ • We are reminded of her earlier courtship when Andy offered her the clove rock. Her rejection of his peace offering is symbolic of the emptiness of their married life. DRAMA
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY Mrs Wilson • Whilst Hannah is in despair over Andy’s lateness and subsequent drunken behaviour, Mrs Wilson takes control of the situation. • She momentarily loses her composure when Andy utters his tirade against her. This is a big shift in power and control. The alcohol has liberated Andy and we are delighted at the effect that his home truths have on the tyrant who has repressed and dominated him. Now it is Mrs Wilson’s turn to be dominated and feel helpless. • The balance of power soon shifts however, and by the end of the play the status quo has been restored. Mrs Wilson has managed to secure her dominance once more. Andy can no longer avoid going upstairs to go over the Rosary and this reasserts Mrs Wilson’s position as the head of the house. ‘By God you’ve got to admire the aul’ bitch. She could handle a regiment.’ Cissy • Cissy is initially in her element when she supports Hannah through her crisis. • She is shocked to the core when Andy comes home drunk. Andy’s attack on Cissy is an attack on the sensibilities of the repressive community that has helped to keep him trapped in Mrs Wilson’s house. She is shown up and put in her place. She cannot cope with Andy’s lapse in character. His attack confirms her very dim view of men. • We delight in her discomfiture. She has no defence against Andy’s brutal and vulgar attack; her only recourse is to flee to her own house with Mrs Wilson and Hannah. • By the end of the play she has regained her composure. She will never let Andy forget his degenerate behaviour. She forcibly asserts her dominance and status when she confronts Andy, ‘You robbed us of Saint Philomena but you’ll never rob us of this one, you’ll never be told who it is!’ DRAMA 39
Page 1 and 2: INTRODUCTION In 1993 Scottish CCC p
Page 3 and 4: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 37: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 45 and 46: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Mag. The
Page 47 and 48: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Hannah.
Page 49 and 50: Winners, Episode One Page reference
Page 51 and 52: Losers, Extracts Two and Three Page

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