what is going on?
"Dinosaur: It's cold." (Wilder 132).
I would say that this quote pretty much sums up the first act of the play. Thus far it reminds me of something along the lines of Alice and Wonderland. I mean what is going on? I had no specific expectations coming into this play, but I really had no idea it was going to be like this. Going to see this play would certainly be very entertaining, especially if it were in 1942 when it first opened.
I have to wonder what the people who first saw this play thought about it.
Everything is pretty wild and crazy, with characters going in and out of character, animals talking the ice age. Seriously, what kind of drugs does it take to write something like this?
Im not sure how the rest of the play is going to be, but for this first act all I can think about is why?
I was initially surprised by Wilder's use of outrageous characters, plot events, and setting. As you read more of the play, however, it becomes clear this ridiculous humor is much like slap-stick humor used to lighten the mood of the serious message. Wilder touches on a few serious human ideals such as marriage, family, and temptation (in the form of lust). He does so through a mask of humor.
I too had no real idea of what to expect when begining this play, but I was definitely shocked. It seems completely off the wall and I agree, definitely seems like something someone on drugs would write! I understand that he is trying to bring out important topics through humor, but I find it hard to uncover these topics when I am so lost in the odd nature of this play.
Maybe I didn't understand the 1940s humor, but I got the distinct feeling that his outlandish characters and attempts at humor just kind of failed. Sure, I cracked a smile when the dinosaur says that it's cold, but I was too busy wondering why the hell there was a talking dinosaur to really bother laughing at him. Yes it's outrageous and yes it could be slightly amusing, but to me it was kind of silly and bordered on dumb.
That being said, I think that the play would be fantastic to see in action because a director would be able to MAKE it far more funny than the actual dialogue allows.
I was rather taken aback by the dinosaur also. However, I though it was unbelievably cool how Wilder combined the past, present and future together throughout the whole play. Yes, it was undeniably "out there," but also rather thought-provoking. Wilder's quirky play played into the subconscious of audiences minds. They could combine common knowledge with the way certain aspects of it were portrayed throughout the play in order to draw conclusions about the human race. The conclusion I personally drew from this was that history repeats itself. What do you guys think was the moral of the story?
I totally agree with carlos here, i was too busy wondering where that dinosaur came from to think about humor. I most certainly didnt expect a dinosaur to appear in the play, and i really wasnt expecting this kind of "humor" (and i use the term loosely) to appear in this early of a play. I was honestly wondering what kind of drugs would make this play the most interesting as i finished reading it.
The absurdity of the play is what makes it interesting to me. Considering all the other works we have been reading about love crazy millionaires dieing, husband murdering females, and depressing Okies trying to survive, this was a nice change of pace. The humor is not really straightforward from just the dialogue, I think, as Carlos said, it would be much more funny/entertaining when seen performed. That's true with pretty much any script though. At least the weirdness of the play kept it from being as depressing as the other works we have read.
I totally agree with Carlos, I was shocked by the talking dinosaur (I think there was a mammoth there too but I don't remember him speaking) and I think I missed the humor as well. I agree that this play should be seen. I really think the majority of plays out there are to be seen, not really read.