Show and Tell Posting-Beauty by Jane Martin

The play I’ve chosen to comment on is called Beauty by Jane Martin; it was published in 2000. I was unable to find record of a production history for this play, so I’m assuming it hasn’t been produced before on a large scale. I found this play on the LSU library’s database, the exact link to it is…http://solomon.nadr.alexanderstreet.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/cgi-bin/asp/philo/getobject.pl?c.1206:2.nadr.

Beauty is a play written about two women, Carla and Bethany, who are unhappy with themselves. Bethany is an accountant who writes short stories, while Carla is a gorgeous model, struggling to make it in the modeling world. In this particular moment, Bethany has left work because she had a “beach urge” and on the beach, she finds a genie. The genie grants her three wishes, two of which she makes while on the beach. During the play, she is describing this occurrence to Carla. Carla is doubtful at first, and annoyed that Bethany is making her late for her Ralph Lauren modeling call, on her birthday nonetheless. When Bethany shows her the $25,000 that the genie gave her on the beach, she starts to believe it. She’s even further persuaded when Bethany swears “…on her mother’s grave…” that her uncle walked straight out of the intensive care unit. Carla and Bethany begin arguing when Bethany starts entertaining the idea of wishing for beauty on her third wish, because Bethany thinks it would make her life exponentially better, while Carla tells her she can’t have a normal functioning life because people are so distracted by her looks. The action of the play culminates in the genie switching Bethany and Carla into each other’s bodies, without Bethany actually making the wish.

The first dramaturgical choice I found noteworthy in the script of Beauty is that Martin chose to have the genie switch the two females’ personalities, without Bethany actually wishing for him to do so. It’s an interesting choice because it makes the genie a more relevant character, showing that he’s overheard their conversation from within’ the lamp. It also creates the question, why did he do it instead of just waiting for Bethany to ask? I think this brings up the idea that it’s important to know what you want to get out of life, because situations can change in the blink of an eye. Martin shows that sometimes in life things are out of one’s control, and that one has to be able to adapt if life changes.

The second dramaturgical choice I’ve chosen to highlight is the way Martin ends the play with the line of dialogue, “Different problems.” Even though the play doesn’t necessarily resolve itself, this one line of dialogue sort of wraps the whole thing up giving us the message that Martin wants to convey. Expanding upon this line, she’s saying even though some peoples lives may seem better than others, at the end of the day every individual is dealing with their own issues. Whether your insecurities have to do with the way you look, your intelligence, or something completely different, everyone has his or her “different problems.” This message is something that everyone can relate to, so it’s a perfect way to punctuate the action of the play.