Ruby Moon free essay sample

How could the personal and social tensions between characters in the plays you have studied be expressed on stage? Australian plays make any normal situation intriguing and unique while exposing Australia’s cultural, social, political and personal issues and concerns. This influences the way in which audiences understand and respond to the subliminal messages that different Australian practitioners use. The playwrights of both Ruby Moon By Mat Cameron and Stolen By Jane Harrison use dramatic forms, performance styles and techniques to establish strong personal and social tensions between characters in both plays. Social issues are anything that effects a large part of society for example, the stolen generation, suburban paranoia, discrimination ect where as personal issues refer to issues that affect an individual in relation to things like grief, loss and identity. The play â€Å"Ruby Moon† by Matt Cameron explores strong issues and fears that have accumulated throughout post modern and modern society today. We will write a custom essay sample on Ruby Moon or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Cameron creates a sense of loss and grief by using the story of a young girl called ruby who goes missing on her way to her grandmas. Cameron purposefully makes all the characters in the play who are involved in the mystery of the girl are dysfunctional and the play ends up making no logical sense but still elicits a range of emotions from the audience. Although the play may not make logical sense Cameron uses several dramatic techniques that convey issues that individuals may face in everyday life, namely the issues of grief and loss and how these emotions can be dealt with this is especially clear between the characters of Ray and Sylvie as the dialogue and positioning between the characters is quite cold and distant for example when Ray waits for a kiss ‘that never comes’ and they ‘stare cold at each other’ these stage directions are created by Cameron to establish the strong tension between both the characters which suggests that the way in which they are dealing with these personal concerns are not rational. The social issue of suburban paranoia is a strong point that Cameron establishes in his play. The play is designed to be dark, creepy and absurd this creates a certain tension between the characters on stage and then also with the audience and the characters. It creates a sense of uncertainty, the characters don’t trust their neighbours and we as an audience can’t even trust the actors on stage. I found this became apparent with Dulcie who is an elderly spinster with a parrot, we are quickly shown that she is slightly senile and this bird that she has conversations with may in fact be imaginary. The audience does not know what to believe which then relates back to the idea of suburban paranoia. Australia’s obsession with child abductions is the foundation for one of ruby moons central ideas, and raises the question â€Å"do you really know your neighbour? † is mainly established when Ray says† we told her never to trust a stranger†. The disappearance of Ruby shows the tension that has unfolded between the relationships of Ray, Sylvie and the community. The mystery of the missing child begins to turn all the characters on the street against each other and the lack of trust becomes more apparent, but the strained relationship between Ray and Sylvie becomes more and more over whelming as the story goes on. The last scene has Sylvie and Ray begin to question each other about the disappearance of their child. Speeding this scene up and using different tones as well as dialogue used helps the audience to understand the personal issue of failing to even be able to trust your loved ones in some circumstances. Cameron also establishes wider social tensions like living in fear of society and the fear of this changing society of how things used to be compared to how they are now and no longer feeling safe with children walking and playing on the streets at night. One of the many other techniques Matt Cameron uses in this play is the use of a timeless and placeless setting designed for the play. This is created by the fact that there is nondescript furniture and props that could be found in any suburban house, there is a lack of posters and pictures and there is no technology like television or computers that could date the production. The furniture used is described to be old and presumably covered in dust to symbolise the feeling of evoking memories. This symbolisation is important as it expands on the personal issues like grief and lost which are dealt with throughout the play. Cameron aims to engage the audience fully, making them see the relevance of the issues being portrayed on stage in the hope that the audience would watch the play and think of all the past and present missing children.