The best daddy and breakfast on the track discussion

Part 1

I agree with you on the idea that the father in “The Best Daddy” is a joker, but loves his daughter. However, you could have supported your ideas with an example from the play. Example, the father is a jokester because he uses the “April fools” idea to make his daughter laugh. This is before giving her the red motorcycle she has always wanted as a birthday present. The father loves his daughters because he does not forget Lisa’s birthday. In addition, he tells Lisa that he would never shoot his other daughter Cathy. I also find the father to be a dramatic person when he takes his daughter to the barn with her eyes closed. I agree with you that the father is cruel when he tells the daughter that he got her a dead pony for her birthday. In addition, he also portrays a cruel character when he tells Lisa that under the blanket is her big fat sister Cathy. The jokes are too harsh for a thirteen year old. I also agree with you on the fact that it is cruel for a father to refer to his daughter as big and fat.

I concur with you on the point that refers to the daughter as gullible. She believes her father, who tells her that he killed the pony, and then her sister Cathy. I however disagree with the idea that she realized that her father was joking and started joking back. I think that she was only trying to express to her father how sad she was. She was trying to make her father realize that the pony meant a lot to her than her own birthday. This could have ruined her birthday. I agree with you that that Lisa is first excited when she is taken to the barn with her eyes covered. Then she gets annoyed when her father tells her that he killed the pony and her sister. Finally, she gets happy when she realizes that the birthday present is the motorcycle.

Part 2

The main theme in the play is love. The characters develop the theme in different ways. The father shows love for his daughter when he remembers Lisa’s birthday. He makes sure to fulfill his parental obligations, which includes remembering his daughter’s birthday. In addition to this, he also portrays love for Cathy, his other daughter. He tells Lisa that he would never kill her sister Cathy when Lisa believes that her father had killed Cathy. Lisa also appears to love his father. She hugs her father after receiving the present. “Daddy, you are the best daddy in the whole wide world,” she says. Lisa also loves her sister. She refers to Cathy as her best sister. She is sad when her father tells her that he had killed her sister. She also loves the pony since she becomes so sad when her father tells her that the dead pony was beneath the blanket. She considers the pony important as compared to her own birthday.

In directing the play, I would make the characters speak slowly. This is because the play is too short and making the characters speak fast will make it shorter. By the characters speaking slowly, the play will be lengthened. In addition, the viewers will enjoy the play since they will be able to understand the character’s dialogue. I would use modern costumes in the play. I cannot use the old costumes since, in the old days, motorcycles did not exist. The costume should relate to the times in the play. Therefore, using an older costume in a play entailing modern objects like the motorcycle will not make sense. The mise-en–scene would be utilized to convey the theme of love. In the play, the mise-en–scene would be the scene where Lisa kisses and hugs his father telling him that he is the best father in the world. The camera will move close to the view of the father and the daughter hugging. This will enable the viewers to feel the love experienced by the father and daughter. The couple being a father and daughter duo rather than a husband and wife duo changes my understanding of the theme. This is because the love between a father and a daughter is different from that of the wife and husband. The father has a parental love to his children. On the other hand, the love between a husband and wife is a passionate one.

Part 3

I concur with you on the idea that the comedy in the “Breakfast at the Track” is revealed by the personalities in the play. However, you could have given examples on how the comedy aspect is portrayed by the two personalities. Example, The fact that S operates at night, and H operates during the day is funny. In addition, when S keeps saying, “I’ll kill you” and “who’s there? What’s happening?” is very funny. He is angry with H for trying to talk to her when she is trying to sleep. She also pretends not to hear what H is saying. I disagree with you on the idea that H pays close attention to the wife’s schedule and uses it as a weapon to make him look good. I do not agree that the husband is a “know it all.” I think he is only trying to make his wife go to the breakfast track with him by reminding her of the positive comments she made.

I agree with you that humor is portrayed when the wife becomes agitated. Her husband tries to put them in a schedule that he claims she agreed. This is funny since the wife is on a vacation and she intends to relax rather than go to the breakfast track. According to H, the wife agreed to the breakfast track. I also find the husband and wife to have their faults. I agree that these faults make them appear funny. I also have the same opinion that the play is quite funny. It brings out the idea that all couples fight over irrelevant and ridiculous things. Sand H argues over their daily routines but do not find a solution to it. I, however, feel you could have discussed more comedic elements from the play. In addition, you could have discussed how these comedic elements support the play.

Part 4

In staging the play to make it more comedic than tragic, I would make the play more complex. In this case, the characters will be more flexible. This will prevent the play from being predictable. Therefore, the play will be humorous since the audience will not be able to tell what will happen next. In addition, I will make the play more ambiguous. Ambiguity always brings out the humor. In a comedy, it is not always necessary for everything to make sense. Example, the sleep may cause the wife to make the conversation confusing. This will bring out the humor. In making the play more tragic than comedic, I would include the stubbornness element. This entails focusing on a point and stressing on it. This can be achieved in the play by making the husband more nagging and dramatic. His tone can be pleading to portray his stubbornness. On the other hand, the wife can be mad to an extent of ignoring the husband.

The playwright uses repetition to bring out the comedic effect through using the word what repeatedly. This creates confusion to the viewers who fail to understand what the character is asking. Through the confusion, the viewers find the scene humorous when they finally understand. In addition, the husband also creates humor when he asks the wife “what what?” The theme in this play is marriage. This play gives the message that people in marriage always argue over funny things instead of finding a solution to the problems. The relationship between the couples in conflict and couples, in the wedding duet, are similar in the sense that both of them have been married for a long time. However, they are different in the sense that the couples in conflict argue over ridiculous things while the wedding duet couple argue over serious things. The couples are similar in the sense that both of them do not understand each other. However, the fact that the conflict couples have a weakness of not finding a solution to their problems brings out the difference. I found the breakfast at the track play more comic because the playwright was successful in making the play ambiguous. This brought out the humor. In addition, the repetition was also a contributing factor to the humor.