Private Eyes (play)

Last updated

Private Eyes is a 1996 drama by Steven Dietz about deception and broken trust, labeled by the author as a "comedy of suspicion", as the story is brought in multiple layers and the audience is repeatedly tricked to believe that the current situation is real. Some critics - though not Dietz himself - consider it an homage to Tom Stoppard's 1982 The Real Thing, a play which features some similar themes and techniques.

Contents

Story

Husband and wife Matthew and Lisa are rehearsing a two- or perhaps three-person play. The British director Adrian uses his position of power to instantly seduce the "strikingly beautiful" Lisa and for a month or so Matthew desperately tries to deny their brazenly open affair or fantasizes about revenge. Then, Adrian's wife Cory tracks him down and Lisa turns out to be just another notch on his belt, after which all go their separate ways. In the brief final scene, Lisa approaches Matthew many years later, both declaring to have thought about only each other ever since.

This simple storyline is hidden in multiple, often conflicting layers, leaving the audience with doubts what part to believe (and some may even doubt the outline above). Like the beginning of Stoppard's play, the first scene is revealed to be the play the couple is rehearsing, with the additional twist that this play-in-a-play is about an audition and an affair between a director and an actress. The entire first half turns out to be a wistful version of how Matthew would have liked to expose the affair of his wife, as told to his therapist Frank (whose role can be played by a man or woman).

Frank sometimes speaks to the audience, coming to its rescue in especially confusing situations, and presenting him/herself as the only one it can really trust. However, perhaps he/she is not a real character but merely a metaphorical tool to reveal the internal struggles of both Matthew and Lisa (who also has taken Frank as her therapist), an idea enhanced by Frank's last narration that turns out to be an audition for Matthew.

In the second act, we get a retelling of the events (by Matthew to Frank) from the beginning of the affair. This still non-linear process deteriorates slowly into several nightmarish scenes with Lisa letting her husband leave the rehearsal room (so Adrian can make love to her) or Matthew getting scolded by his wife and Adrian after being forced to watch them in bed. Comedic relief is provided by the appearance of Cory, who initially introduces herself as a "private eye" for Adrian's suspecting wife. Her violent revenge may also just be a fantasy as we're told that the bullet she fired "only" grazed Adrian's heart and he took a flight back to England, presumably to continue his predatory ways.

Although each layer by itself is deceptively plausible, the play takes several turns that make events in previous layers and sometimes even the overall story impossible. Examples of the latter are Frank's final audition and Cory featuring in Matthew's first account to Frank as an unlikely accomplice in his fantasized revenge before he meets her in a higher layer of the story. Such "plot holes" could be considered nods to Stoppard's play and the theater of the absurd. Dietz's use of comedic moments throughout the play, like the characters' unnatural wittiness, absurd but cathartic turns of events, and unexpectedly banal plays on words like Frank and "private Dick" has been suggested to be "because only a comedy can make us realize the truths we are not fond of". [1]

Theme

Dietz described the origin of this play as "a scene in which two lovers fail to speak the truth. And, like a lie, the play grew. It began to go to greater and greater lengths to keep its own deceit afloat. It took my sense of structure for a ride and built a web of such complexity that clarity (a/k/a `truth') was rendered virtually impossible." [2]

The theme of deception pervades the play at all levels. Besides the deception of the double adultery, each character takes several opportunities to deceive the other, be it in fantasy or for real. Matthew and Lisa also suffer from self-deception, [1] as he refuses to believe the unpleasant turn of events, holding on to things, while everyone else is changing their lives, and she convinces herself that all this doesn't have to hurt Matthew. Dietz's breaking of several conventional rules of the theater [1] of course repeatedly deceives the audience in believing each new version of reality. This, perhaps intentionally, can leave some members of the audience feel betrayed at the end, feeling used as a dupe for a magician's bag of tricks. [2]

Title

Dietz had started to write the play as early as 1990 with the title The Usual Suspects. This version had a stage reading by the Arizona Theatre Company in 1992. In 1995, Christopher McQuarrie wrote a hit movie with that title, and Dietz "begrudgingly" changed his title. [3]

Performances

"Private Eyes" was first performed in March 1996 by the Arizona Theatre Company. It gained wide recognition when it was presented as part of the 1997 Humana Festival of New American Plays, a widely attended yearly event at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Though it never had a Broadway appearance, it has been Dietz's most commercially successful play. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead</i> 1966 play by Tom Stoppard

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the main setting is Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Stoppard</span> British playwright (born 1937)

Sir Tom Stoppard is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical thematics of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. Stoppard was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.

<i>Arcadia</i> (play) 1993 play by Tom Stoppard

Arcadia (1993), written by English playwright Tom Stoppard, explores the relationship between past and present, order and disorder, certainty and uncertainty. It has been praised by many critics as the finest play from "one of the most significant contemporary playwrights" in the English language. In 2006, the Royal Institution of Great Britain named it one of the best science-related works ever written.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Story within a story</span> Literary device

A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story. Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes called nested stories. A play may have a brief play within it, such as Shakespeare's play Hamlet; a film may show the characters watching a short film; or a novel may contain a short story within the novel. A story within a story can be used in all types of narration: novels, short stories, plays, television programs, films, poems, songs, video games, and philosophical essays.

<i>Shakespeare in Love</i> 1998 film by John Madden

Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 period romantic comedy film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck and Judi Dench.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restoration comedy</span> Theatrical genre rooted in late 17th-century England

"Restoration comedy" is English comedy written and performed in the Restoration period of 1660–1710. Comedy of manners is used as a synonym for this. After public stage performances were banned for 18 years by the Puritan regime, reopening of the theatres in 1660 marked a renaissance of English drama. Sexually explicit language was encouraged by King Charles II (1660–1685) personally and by the rakish style of his court. Historian George Norman Clark argues:

The best-known fact about the Restoration drama is that it is immoral. The dramatists did not criticize the accepted morality about gambling, drink, love, and pleasure generally, or try, like the dramatists of our own time, to work out their own view of character and conduct. What they did was, according to their respective inclinations, to mock at all restraints. Some were gross, others delicately improper.... The dramatists did not merely say anything they liked: they also intended to glory in it and to shock those who did not like it.

<i>The Country Wife</i> 1675 play by William Wycherley

The Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written by William Wycherley and first performed in 1675. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title contains a lewd pun with regard to the first syllable of "country". It is based on several plays by Molière, with added features that 1670s London audiences demanded: colloquial prose dialogue in place of Molière's verse, a complicated, fast-paced plot tangle, and many sex jokes. It turns on two indelicate plot devices: a rake's trick of pretending impotence to safely have clandestine affairs with married women, and the arrival in London of an inexperienced young "country wife", with her discovery of the joys of town life, especially the fascinating London men. The implied condition the Rake, Horner, claimed to suffer from was, he said, contracted in France whilst "dealing with common women". The only cure was to have a surgeon drastically reduce the extent of his manly stature; therefore, he could be no threat to any man's wife.

<i>Fast Times at Ridgemont High</i> 1982 film directed by Amy Heckerling

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story, and starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Brian Backer, Robert Romanus, and Ray Walston. Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences.

<i>Audition</i> (1999 film) 1999 film by Takashi Miike

Audition is a 1999 Japanese horror film directed by Takashi Miike, based on the 1997 novel by Ryu Murakami. Starring Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina, the film is about a widower, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ishibashi), who stages a phony audition to meet a potential new romantic partner. After interviewing several women, Aoyama becomes interested in Asami (Shiina), whose dark past affects their relationship.

<i>The Real Thing</i> (play) 1982 play by British playwright Tom Stoppard

The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard that was first performed in 1982. The play focuses on the relationship between Henry and Annie, an actress and member of a group fighting to free Brodie, a Scottish soldier imprisoned for burning a memorial wreath during a protest.

<i>The Real Inspector Hound</i> One-act play written by Tom Stoppard

The Real Inspector Hound is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit. By chance, they become involved in the action causing a series of events that parallel the play they are watching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Love Lisa</span> 15th episode of the 4th season of The Simpsons

"I Love Lisa" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 1993. In the episode, Lisa gives Ralph Wiggum a Valentine's Day card when she sees that he has not received any. Ralph misinterprets Lisa's gesture and, much to Lisa's dismay, relentlessly pursues her with affection. Lisa snaps at Ralph and angrily tells him they are not together and that she never liked him. Heartbroken, Ralph channels his feelings into his performance as George Washington in the school's President's Day pageant. After a thunderous applause from the audience, he is able to accept Lisa as just a friend.

<i>Hollywood Shuffle</i> 1987 American comedy film by Robert Townsend

Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not "black enough" for certain roles.

Moon Over Buffalo is a 1995 comic play by Ken Ludwig set in Buffalo, New York in 1953. This play marked the return, after a 30-year absence, of Carol Burnett to the Broadway stage.

Steven Dietz is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely produced playwrights. In 2019, Dietz was again named one of the 20 most-produced playwrights in America.

Isabel Keating is an American actress and singer. She is known for her performance as Judy Garland in the original Broadway production of The Boy from Oz, which earned her a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award.

Adrian Philip Scarborough is an English actor.

Enter a Free Man is a play by Tom Stoppard that follows the story of an unsuccessful inventor named George Riley. The play was first performed on March 28, 1968, at the St. Martin's Theatre. It was directed by Frith Banbury and starred Michael Hordern.

After Magritte is a surreal comedy written by Tom Stoppard in 1970. It was first performed in the Green Banana Restaurant at the Ambiance Lunch-hour Theatre Club in London.

<i>Kick-Ass</i> (film) 2010 black comedy superhero film

Kick-Ass is a 2010 black comedy superhero film directed by Matthew Vaughn from a screenplay by Jane Goldman and Vaughn. It is based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nichols, Josh (November 18, 1999). "Sweet little lies". The Daily Nebraskan . Archived from the original on April 17, 2008.
  2. 1 2 Horton, G.L. (1999). "Private Eyes". stagepage.com.
  3. ↑ Engelman, Liz (April 24 – May 24, 1998). "Private Eyes by Steven Dietz". Hippodrome State Theater. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008.
  4. ↑ Saltzman, Simon (March 22, 2003). "Interview with playwright Steven Dietz". TheaterScene.net. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.