Madam, – If the aim of theatre is to hold a mirror up to society and show us ourselves, it seems ironic that Peter Crawley in his rather damning review of Marina Carr’s play Marble failed to recognise what he saw (Arts, February 19th).
Marina Carr is trying to portray the struggles of a middle-aged woman in Ireland today. Just a whinge fest, then – or, as your reviewer Peter Crawley calls it, “a decorous display of a dull mid-life fantasy”.
Really? Would the reviewer have said that about Hedda Gabler or A Doll’s House, both of which have similar themes? I very much doubt it.
Marina Carr has hit a nerve with her play. Men may find it threatening – as perhaps your reviewer did – while many women may identify with it. But why judge her characters? Of course they are flawed, but it is only by trying to recognise and understand these flaws that we can come any closer to change.
Crawley argues that “when a bored man or woman abandons their children without hesitation to live out their dreams, all we see are depthless phantasms”. While the judgmental part of me agrees, the more empathetic side of me says: yes, it is a morally wrong thing to do now, but let’s see why this has happened. This is what Carr is trying to do.
We no longer live with a strong imposed set of moral values and that fact, coupled with high personal expectations, can be devastating when the happiness we thought was coming our way eludes us. – Yours, etc,