The performances were good and the play is timeless and I think that there is more to it than what appears to be seen. Thank goodness Forever Yours was translated into the English and work by Michel Tremblay is being appreciated. This piece has not outlived any life expectancy either; the play is set in simple “distorted” surroundings that are very applicable to contemporary lifestyles. I was content to hear the interwoven talk between the characters, which even suggested similar thought patterns between the past and present. That was because the children, now young adults would appear to veer towards the past and listen in on their parents arguing, although I would have preferred Carmen to do so because she was the one who was still living in the past. But then this is what gives the play its mystical appearance and draws the audience attention in on the microcosm of nuclear family relationships in retrospect.
Here was a family without love and looking for it desperately. Carmen would try to get it through her devotion to Christ and her sister through her escape from the family binds of Catholic oppressive behavioral patterns. Both girls recognized the mother was a slave to her match but differed on how much respect should be given. And as the play unfolds where one initially lays blame on the father for his quick recourse to the bottle, we find that the wife never loved her kids and never responded to her husband's emotional needs. Their marriage ended in their deaths and the children go their own way on more than one occasion. One can suspect the deaths were intentional that this was the father's way out from his unwanted love that the wife was responsible and this adds intrigue to the divide between the daughters one of which at least, was still looking for answers. How the father mocked his wife with the caption “Forever Yours” scribbled on an early photo she had when we knew he was sick of her puritanical hounding.
For people who like the use of metaphorical language, who like to delve into the reasons why we remain so attached to their older misfit parents and for people who like to see the dynamics of a family where one child is caught in the past and the other cuts the cord, this is a very good play.
