Cornucopia Radio, December 2011
This intriguing little playlet comprised a dialogue between Tom (Kevin
M. Connolly) and Beth (Luana McTiernan). Tom felt compelled to leave a place he knew and loved: the kind of
area he had created for himself according to his own wishes. Beth, on the other hand, seemed like a lost soul, searching for
status and recognition in an indifferent world.
The choices available to both of them seemed restricted: if Tom left, he would have
to forge a new existence from scratch - a process that might be difficult, if not impossible to achieve. If he stayed where
he was, however, he might condemn himself to a life of isolation. Meanwhile Beth had to find an identity for herself
that would prove congenial both to herself and her friends.
Such questions have been the stuff of drama ever since Waiting for Godot
or the plays of Ionesco burst on the European theatrical scene in the post-1945 period, generating a mixture of surprise,
incomprehension and wild enthusiasm among critics and audiences alike. Peter Beeston takes the same material and gives it
a contemporary twist: hitherto Tom has occupied MySpace, but now that platform no longer attracts as many viewers as it might
have done in the past. Both he and Beth could migrate to Facebook (or Twitter), but even then, there is no guarantee that
they would find any friends. More importantly, we can consider the extent to which their online personae might correspond
to or differ from their personalities away from the screen.
Beeston invited us to consider the extent to which technology has impinged on our
lives, while changing the way in which we respond to people, both online and through face-to-face interactions.
The playlet is not long, but it packs a powerful dramatic punch.
