A trip to the theatre
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A friend of mine, Jo Faith Habershon, is an actress and last Friday I went to see a play called 'The White Room' that she wrote and starred in. It begins with a couple, who have just got engaged and are house-hunting. They have booked a viewing and are surprised to discover that the house is completely white inside, a blank canvas through which their lives unravel. By the end of the play, each character is laid bare and we know all about their fears, losses and desires. Jo was inspired by the idea that our life is like a painting and how that picture is painted is partly up to us and partly out of our control. It is an incredible play that is very deep, philosophical and full of interesting references and I found myself thinking them over for the whole week!
Glossary
- to star in (verb + prep)
To be one of the main actors/actresses in a play or film
- To get engaged (verb + adj.)
To formally agree to get married
- house-hunting (noun)
To look for a house to rent or buy
- a viewing (noun)
To go to see a house/flat that you might rent or buy
- unravel (verb)
If a piece of cloth unravels, the fibres become separated from each other. In this context, the word is being used metaphorically and it means that we begin to learn and find out about their lives.
- to lay sth bare (phrase)
To become known
- losses (noun - plural)
Things that have been lost
- desires (noun - plural)
Things that people want
- inspired by (verb + prep)
To get an idea for something from something/somebody
- to be up to someone (phrase)
If something is up to someone, they make the decisions and have control.
- out of our control (phrase)
Something that we cannot influence or choose
- deep (adj.)
If something is deep, it is profound and it requires a lot of thinking to understand
- references (noun)
Mentioning other writers, artists, poets etc
- to think over (phrasal verb)
To think about something a lot