Alisa Iacovelli

Professor Heather McGovern

Life of the Mind

21 November 2013

Event Blog #3 – Crumble

For my third event, I decided to attend the Stockton Theatre Club’s production of Crumble on Thursday night, November 13.  This production was created with a cast consisting of only five people, one of which who portrayed multiple characters.  The play begins with a character who depicts the spirit of the house.  This character has little monologues throughout the play that explains the history of the house and what it has become over the years.  Gary, the father of the family who lives in this house, unfortunately passed away from a tragic accident.  The rest of the plot revolves around a mother and daughter who are trying to cope with the catastrophic loss of their beloved family member.  The daughter, Janice, is an out of sorts eleven year old who is trying to find a way to be with her father again.  Her mother, Clara, suffers from severe anxiety.  Clara has had little to no relationship with her daughter since the passing of Gary, which makes her question her parenting skills.  Clara’s sister, Barbara, attempts to help with the parenting of Janice, and tries to get her to open up.  Barbara has always wanted to have a child, however was unable to.  To fulfill her want for children, she adopted many cats and tries to build a relationship with Janice.

Janice is almost always in her room, because she wants little to do with her mother, or really anyone for that matter.  She is visited by an imaginary Justin Timberlake.  Timberlake is supposed to depict the father figure that Janice no longer has.  Janice pursues a romantic relationship with this figurative character.  The same character that plays Justin Timberlake also plays the imaginative Indiana Jones, who is the guiding role for Clara.

Towards the end of the play, Janice gives her mother a Christmas present.  The present it a bomb that she made to kill herself and her mother.  The reason that she wanted to use this bomb is to bring her and her mother back together with her father.  Once the bomb goes off, the only thing that happens is that Janice loses her right hand, which was a symbol of her father throughout the play.  Once she returns from the hospital, Janice builds a better relationship with Clara.  Barbara is also included in this new relationship.  The play concludes with the three of them moving out of the house after fixing it up.

A main theme throughout this play is gender roles.  The father figure is usually seen as someone who controls the household and regulates what goes on.  Once this family lost their father figure, they spiraled out of control.  Another gender role is the mother who tries to gain her daughter’s affection through food.  Mothers are known for cooking and completing household tasks, and Clara does much of this, fulfilling this stereotype.

Overall, I enjoyed the production of Crumble.  I thought the acting was professional, as well as the scenery and costuming.  I would definitely recommend a Stockton production again, and will attend them in the future.