No resolution, no happy ending: or how the modern stage performs itself the dynamics and perspectives of our contemporary

world. Nora slammed the door of the Dolls House and the well-made bourgeois melodrama, and she opened the brand new door of modern drama. First, Mother Courage showed the way to follow, in 1939, wandering along war and losses with her chariot, going in circles, unable to leave her alienated path. Then, fifty years later, after two wars (almost three, with a cold one), Angels in America considers the fears and possibilities surrounding the approaching Millennium, in a kaleidoscope of voices representing the nation of America. And finally, in an unnamed authoritarian state, The Pillowman explores the limits of representation and fiction, pushing the boundaries of normality and acceptation with the theme of children-slaughtering and innocence. The new door is thus open to alienation of audience and characters, interpretation, and reflection upon theatre and creation in all its forms. Those plays are thus shaped in a context of change, shaping the change, through rising tension and crisis situations. Then, they consequently explore the dimension of the individual in this context of change, considering the issue of choice and pre-determination. And finally, the sense of resolution is challenged, nobody and nothing is spared in the destructive spiral of crisis, however creation and interpretations could be the only true resolution. A stronger emphasis will be put on the plays of Tony Kushner, Angels in America and Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman, analysed in detail, than on Bertold Brechts epic Mother Courage and Her Children.

Firstly, the three plays given to scrutiny deal with a situation of crisis and raise tension from the opening scene. Indeed, The Pillowman opens with a character blindfolded in a police interrogation room (5), dealing with the consequences of an unknown action, like the character of his story The Three Gibbet Crossroads. In Angels in America, a Jewish burial welcomes the Audience in a time and setting of crisis and change, allegorically mourning the nation and the figures of tradition. Moreover, Mother Courage is a chronicle of the thirty years war, war being the epitome of a crisis in both personal and global scales. Crisis is thus depicted at the intersection between two scales: the global process of change through time and setting and the personal crisis shaped by revelations and situations. Furthermore, the audience is involved in the

process of change, rejecting empathy and engaged in a reflection upon the action. In fact, the plays unfold in a space of tension, created by representation and possibilities. Tension can emerge first from the context in which a play is set. Indeed, a time where change is expected, or in progress, creates crisis and tensions. Angels in America depicts a time outside history, when time stands still (248), as suggested by Art Borreca in his analysis of the figure of the Angel of History, developed by Walter Benjamin. The context of the 1985s thus stands still and is scrutinized by both characters and audience. However, this time is synonym of change, as suggested by the character of Harper, who summarizes the fears of her present in the sentence this suspense, Mr Lies, its killing me (1212), while chatting with her imaginary friend. She then has to face the possibility of a change, when at the end of this scene, her buddy-husband comes back and finally asks So, howd you like to move to Washington? (1212), creating suspense, being the last sentence before a shift of scene. Then, the depiction of the characters themselves is part of the increasing tension. Indeed, as suggested by Artaud, modern drama, abandoning psychology creates a new sphere which recounts the extraordinary, puts on the stage natural conflicts, natural and subtle forces, and which present itself first of all as an exceptional force of redirection (199). Characters can be first seen as types (240), as suggested by Janelle Reinelt, giving voice to different roles and models. In Angels in America then, for Reinelt, Roy Cohn is associated with political power (240) thanks to his high-tech telephone (240). However, the playwrights seem to go further, challenging the notion of characters, roles and expectations. Indeed, modern authors explore the dimension of representation, as suggested in Katurians confusion about a character of one of his stories, in The Pillowman: He represents a bad father. He is a bad father. (10) The change of verb questions the shift of meaning, considering the issue of moral, projection and expectation. Furthermore, in Angels in America, during their first meeting in the toilets, a symbolic space between private and public, Joe and Louis are subjected to an ambiguous misunderstanding between both homosexual and republican (1215), finally ending up in Joe admitting Im confused (1215), also applicable to his sexual identity. The audience is seemingly confused and asked to reflect upon the usual patterns of labelling and expectations. Moreover, the performance is a space of tension, as drama is now self-conscious, and plays with the audiences expectations. Indeed, since Brecht and his epic theatre, drama is a space of experiment of the theatrical form itself. In the Playwrights notes of Angels in America, Kushner

writes that his moments of magic (1209) should be staged as bits of wonderful theatrical illusion which means its OK if the wires show, and maybe its good that they do (1209). In her essay, Janelle Reinelt considers Angels in America as an American epic theatre, first and foremost thanks to the use of the stage. Indeed, as Brechts Mother Courage was traversing time and setting with her chariot, confronted to a plurality of dimensions, Kushner explores different scales and realities. This idea is echoed in Borrecas extreme vision of the use of space as it is considered by Kushner, where slides of mid-1980s America [] are projected upstage, while centre stage is used primarily for dream scenes, downstage for realistic scenes and upstage for magical appearances (255). Borreca even argues that the stage itself was a performance, thanks to Kushners note that the scene shifts should be done employing the cast as well as the stage-hands (1209). Furthermore, the audience is part of the process of creating tension, actually in the core of the reflection. Indeed, a triangle (237) between spectators, actors and play, should be realised, almost a love-triangle, as suggested by Reinelt in her review. And so, the audience is aware of the fictional dimension of the performance but should also reflect upon it, as suggested by Artaud, who defies the audience to indulge outside theatre ideas of war, rioting and random murders (199). He thus views the theatre as a process of catharsis of societys fears and horrors. The stories written by Katurian and performed on stage deals with child murder, violence and torture, making the audience feel uncomfortable. However, Katurian himself categorises his stories as thats something-esque (15), rejecting their moral dimension and encouraging the audience to do the same. In the reviews on the performance, the plays is said to be staged in a Carnival way, in pantomime and exaggeration, thus acting as the epitome of the catharsis. Finally, the considerations on drama and theatricality also suggest tension in the role of the playwright himself, and his relationship with the audience. Indeed, a reviewer of The Pillowman, in the New York Times considered the dialogue as appallingly funny. However, the meaning of the word funny is challenged in the play, in relation to Katurians parents. Indeed, he was the subject of an artistic experiment (23), and considering his parents, he says that [his] parents were funny people (8). However, the policemen undermine the meaning of the word, shouting: For funny I guess read stupid fucking idiots (9), and questions the use, efficiency and function of humour in McDonaghs play.

Crisis and tension secondly and consequently lead to reactions. Indeed, drama depicts characters interacting with each other, and so their responses to a context of crisis can create more tension. Indeed, the dimension of choice is raised because while facing a crisis, the individual on stage is both confronted to a situation and to the other characters, and his response is constructed through dialogues, in his relationship with others. As a feature of drama, action is constructed through language and dialogues. Consequently, the characters responses to a situation are suggested in connection with other characters. In Angels in America, the characters are constructed through a dynamic of opposites, seemingly unable to construct a structured response to the crisis. For instance, in the fifth scene of the first act, Joe incarnates a belief in change, in the optimist side, and the advent of a new era with Truth restored. Law restored. while Harper symbolises the opposite, in confrontation with the fears of the 1985s and especially the ozone layer with the skin burns, birds go blind, iceberg melts (1214). Likewise, in his depiction of American society, Kushner goes further with the use of splitscenes, that creates a reality simultaneously lived, where the collective life of society overrides personal experience, time, and space (251), as suggested by Art Borreca. Moreover, the use of split-scenes enables the audience to make connexion and associations in the relationships between characters. For instance, in scene four of the second act, Louis guilt towards the abandonment of his lover is projected in a sexual intercourse performed with a stranger played by the actor playing Prior, and he implores the stranger: infect me (1221). In the same scene, a parallel is to be made on stage with Joe and Roy, where Roy is trying to convince Joe, using his power, attempting to infect him with his vice of corruption. A crisis situation can lead to revelation of secret that could ultimately change the pattern of a relationship. Firstly, Katurian considers his mentally deficient brother has a child (18). He appears very protective towards his brother we will be alright, Michal. (29). However, as soon as he discovers that Michal killed his brother, his attitude shifts, and so does the audiences perception of him. Laura Elred begins her essay by discussing whether Martin McDonagh is Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde, arguing that he is both. Katurian, as an artist, can be seen as Dr Jekyll, while his brother, ultimately, being from the other side is Mr Hyde. Michal represents the dark side of creation, and he says that I wouldnt have done it if you hadnt told me to, so dont you act the innocent (35), acting in reality upon fiction. The threshold of revelation (1215) is depicted by Kushner through the use of dream scenes,

and especially the confrontation between Harper and Prior in the seventh scene of the first act. Borreca draws a parallel between those scenes and Brechts songs, because they disrupt the line of the narrative. He also argues that they enable to show what America is repressing (251). However, this bewildering mutual dream scene, as suggested in the stage directions, gives an insight into the unconscious and repressed desires of the characters, which recognize themselves as victims of the change. Traditionally, a situation of crisis leads to choice, and as suggested by Sartre, the moment of choice (43) is appealed by the situation, and offers solutions. Consequently, if the situation stagnates, then the lack of choice for the character is emblematic of its alienation to a setting. The characters of Angels in America cannot find alternatives to their incapacity to truly communicate, as illustrated in the ninth scene of the second act. Indeed, the dialogue is even overlapping in this moment of truth (1227), where finally Harper vanishes (1228) and so does Louis, leaving both Prior and Joe alone on stage, facing their illnesses. Harper and Louis are two characters trapped in their emotions. Indeed, while Harper has emotional problems (1214), leading her to take drugs, Louis seems heartless. As suggested by Savran, Harper is pathologized (215) as a female figure, being the only leading figure of the play. Her inability to cope with reality is illustrated in her self-realisation in dreams sequences, where she ends up pregnant (1232), with a baby girl, reflecting the cause of her problems: a miscarriage. On the contrary, Louiss lack of feelings is exemplified in his scene with Belize in the last act, when he cannot smell (1232) the snow that invades the stage, symbol of softness, compliance, forgiveness, grace (1232) for Belize. Furthermore, the only possibility of choice is offered by the character of Roy Cohn, but appears actually destructive and hypocrite. Indeed, he underlines his power of making who [he is]by what [he is] (1219), to finally claim that Roy Cohn is not an homosexual. Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man, Henry, who fucks around with guys.(1219), denying his real identity. Finally, the plays reflect the power of driving forces over choices in the characters incapacity to control their destinies. Like Mother Courage, that should got to get back to business again (737), after the loss of all her children, individuals are driven by forces beyond their control. In Angels in America, AIDS changes Priors life, who is dehumanised and naked in the beginning of the third act. In The Pillowman, the threat of the authoritarian state is omnipresent, as suggested by the recurrent sentence of theyre gonna come and execute us any minute, arent they? (40) Moreover, The character of the story of the Pillowman was supposed to offer a choice to change

childrens destinies by encouraging them to commit suicide. Moreover, he chooses to kill himself at the end of the story, vanishing, like he never existed 33. His circular feature and destiny echoes the pattern of horror in McDonaghs play, where, as suggested by Laura Elred, the adults torture children who then grow up and torture others. No alternative is possible, change seem to be manly driven by forces that does not depend on the individual. Finally, crisis only creates tension in an attempt to reach its own resolution. Resolution thus appears as the ultimate goal of a crisis situation, which needs to adapt itself to the normal situation, by either creating change, and becoming the norm, or becoming part of the norm, and transforming it. However, normality and crisis are blurred in the three plays given to scrutiny, and the idea of a resolution is challenged, rejected, itself confronted to crisis and open to a plurality of dimensions and interpretations. In modern drama, the concept of happy ending is rejected, challenging the audiences expectations. Indeed, this idea is illustrated by Katurians choice of a twisted ending in his first story paraphrased on stage, The Little Apple Men. Indeed, the bad father killed by the men should be like the end of the story (11), as Katurian puts it. However, he adds that but then it goes on. (11) and the little girl is also killed. Later in the play, Katurian says that There are no happy endings in real life (41), and obviously not in the reality projected either. In Angels in America, a happy ending as Prior would have figured it is depicted in one of the last scenes of the play. Indeed, Louis appears, he looks gorgeous (1236), and Prior and him dance together. One of Priors ancestor, a ghost-like apparition, comments that the world has gotten so terribly, terribly old (1236) while they are dancing, underlying the recurrent pattern of the happy ending, where resolution is found in accordance with desires and emotion. However, the vision ends as Lou vanishes (1936) and Prior is left to dance alone (1936). However, some characters seem to have the possibility of a second chance. Indeed, the relationship established between Louis and Joe is grounded in understanding and acceptance, as suggested by the Louiss declaration: We already have a lot in common (1237) However, what they have in common is the choice for individuality, both focusing on their selves after the moment of truth. They are both survivors of a storm of destruction and alienation surrounding them. Janelle Reinelt regrets Kushners choice for individualism, and would have argued for a community organizing (243), more than a focus on the selves as an answer to change and crisis.

Moreover, Sam Shepard argued that resolution is strangulation. Resolution would alienate drama itself, cutting off its possibilities. In The Pillowman, the character of Katurian chooses literally strangulation as the solution to his crisis. He is the literal Pillowman of the play, acting and reacting on stage the murder of his parents and brother, putting a pillow over their head while they were sleeping (25). His acts raise the issue of redemption and death penalty, because even the policemen approves the killing of his brother, Tupolski thanking him in the beginning of the third act and Ariel having actually murdered his own torturer of father is the same fashion. Ultimately, resolution seems intrinsically linked with destruction. Indeed, the characters are not able to escape their destinies, and have to face the consequences of their actions and the actions and situations decided by driving forces. The character of Roy Cohn is emblematic of its own disruption, and especially with the appearance of a figure from the past, Ethel, his own old nightmare, that compromises his emblem of power by playing with his telephone, while he is painfully suffering from AIDS. She also ridicules the hypocritical objects of power and modernity associated with Roy: It sings! (imitating dial tones) La la la. Resolution then seems to be linked not only with destruction, but also with a sense of destruction of the self, a sacrifice. As suggested by Savran, the final arrival of the Angel guarantees that the vehicle of hope and redemption in Angels the prophet who foresees a new age will be the character that endures the most agony: Prior Walter. (211) The possibility of change through resolution needs to be conveyed by an oppressed figure, that would lead the way to hope and reflection. Prior appears to be a symbol of change, echoing the tradition of prophets, with the long ascendance of Walter before him. In The Pillowman, a similar idea is conveyed with the figure of the little girl in the story of The Little Jesus. A little girl is represented on stage with a beard, persuaded to be the new Jesus, a figure of modernity in contrast with the old Jesus (46). However, she ends up being tortured on stage, as a martyr, in her own family sphere, an institution difficult to change. A parallel can be drawn with the mute character of Katrin, who sacrifices herself at the end of Mother Courage, after having been disfigured, emblem of the martyrs of war. Finally, the plays consider resolution through different angles and possibilities, dealing with stories and representation. Angels in America moves towards non-realism, as suggested by Borreca, where the end crack[s] into visionary space (257) and reflects a vision as constructed by theatre [sic] (257). The theatrical appearance of the Angel is an act of creation, man-made

and magical as a representation, and echoes Priors desire for performance in fiction, with a spectacular use of the theatrical devices of representation. Indeed, as he says to Belize, its all that keeping me alive (1223). This idea of life through fiction is echoed in Katurians relationship with his stories. He wants them to survive, so that at least [he]d have that (66). He adds that [he] was a good writer and that it was all [he] ever wanted to be (66), before being shot by the policemen. Both endings remain unfixed and ambiguous. Indeed, the angels appearance raises issues more than offering solutions while an alternative ending is given to Katurian, in the spirit of the thing(69). Resolution is open to possibilities and versions, as suggested by the numerous twists of The Pillowman. Indeed, as Ondrej Pilny interpretsKaturians triumphant resurrection from the dead as an uncanny moment which indicates that the whole story of Katurians interrogation may have been sheer fiction from the start (216). The Pillowman is thus a puzzle without a solution (14), as it has been acclaimed by the reviews.

The advent of Modern drama not only marked a rupture with the themes and the usual bourgeois settings and narratives, but it also engaged reflections upon the dramatic form itself. Indeed, the three plays given to scrutiny use the stage and theatrical devices as experiment, emblem of a desire of change and modernity. Then, the plays echoed an idea of change linked with alienation and destruction, and especially because of the weight of tradition, habits and the controlling forces of Institutions. However, their desire to disrupt norm and to challenge expectations finally leads to a hope that can only be found in a reflection upon fiction and the representation of realities. It seems that openness and reflection is the key of change.

Bibliography Artaud, Antonin. An end to Masterpieces (1933) in Modern Theories of Drama, ed. George W.Brandt. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1998): pp. 42-44 Brecht, Bertold. Mother Courage and her Children, A Chronicle of the Thirty Years War in The Wardsworth Anthology of Drama. Ed: W.B. Worthen (2004: 4th edition). Borreca, Art. Dramaturging the Dialectic: Brecht, Benjamin and Declan Donellans Production of Angels in America in Approaching the Millennium: Essays on Angels in America. (Michigan UP, 1997) Eldred, Laura. Martin McDonaghs Blend of Tradition and Horrific Innovation in The Theatre of Martin McDonagh: A World of Savage Stories. Ed. Chambers, Lilian and Jordan, Eamonn (Dublin: Carysford Press, 2006), pp. 198-213 Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, A Gay Fantasia on National Themes - Part One: Millennium Approaches in The Wardsworth Anthology of Drama. Ed: W.B. Worthen (2004: 4th edition). McDonagh, Martin. The Pillowman. (London: Methuen, 2003) Pilny, Ondrej. The Pillowman as Puppet Theatre in The Theatre of Martin McDonagh: A World of Savage Stories. Ed. Chambers, Lilian and Jordan, Eamonn (Dublin: Carysford Press, 2006), pp. 214-223 Reinelt, Janelle. Notes on Angels in America as American Epic Theatre in Approaching the Millennium: Essays on Angels in America. (Michigan UP, 1997) Sartre, Jean Paul. For a Theatre of Situations in Modern Theories of Drama, ed. George W. Brandt. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1998): pp. 42-44 Savran, David. Ambivalence, Utopia, and a Queer Sort of Materialism: How Angels in America Reconstructs the Nation in Theatre Journal, 47:2. (1995), pp. 207-227. Reviews: The Pillowman Program Note in The Theatre of Martin McDonagh: A World of Savage Stories. Ed. Chambers, Lilian and Jordan, Eamonn (Dublin: Carysford Press, 2006), pp. 385-389. The Pillowman reviewed by the New York Times, in The Theatre of Martin McDonagh: A World of Savage Stories. Ed. Chambers, Lilian and Jordan, Eamonn (Dublin: Carysford Press, 2006), pp. 411-414.