The East End Plays: Part 2

by George F. Walker

Where is the East End? It’s where the sun comes up and where you bury the dead. It’s where George Walker set six of his plays. It’s the East End of Toronto; the Lower East Side of New York; down by the East River; East L.A.; East Vancouver. It’s where you get down to the basics of beginnings and endings, and how you get from each of those ends to the other. It’s where Walker’s settings have “come home.” From his offer of tenuous hope to the denizens of a city salvaged from the powerful and the greedy in Beautiful City (1987); to his championing of women in Love and Anger (1989); to his explorations of sex and gender issues among three young people in Tough! (1993), Walker continues his explorations of characters living in extremity in the arena of a political comedy uniquely his own.

Genres: Plays

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult to describe The East End Plays. They're strange. They're funny. And they're kind of depressing. Walker focuses on marginalized people (the poor, the mentally ill, a teen mom) and the way "the system" fails them. But his plays aren't preachy. They're about petty squabbles between characters who are fucked up and trying their best.

Aside from some moments of absurdity (like a bargain store clerk who is also a witch) the action is mundane and at times too slow-paced for my liking. I love Walker's dialogue, which produces gems like:

"You look like machines. Nazi vampire machines. I'm getting scared. Look guys I really mean it...loosen your ties!!" (113, Love and Anger)

"Well I'll push your asshole through your brain until you're inside out in another fucking universe! The Universe of the brainless assholes! Don't ever fucking tell me how far I can push someone! It's bad for my fucking health! Bad for everyone's fucking health! It's bad therapy! Bad karma! Bad fucking manners!!" (147, Love and Anger)

"Yeah. Right. Obsessed. You're obsessed with tits. It doesn't even matter what they're attached to. They could be attached to a fence and you'd still go after them. Tits just glued to a fence and you'd be in there rubbing against them. Feeling up that fence, man. People would be stopping and watching. 'What's that guy doin' that fence.' You wouldn't care. You'd be drooling away, whispering to that fence, 'Can I suck them. I really wanna suck them.' (163, Tough!)


Despite how much of an adventure and pleasant surprise The East End Plays were, I'm not sure if I will ever re-read them. Beautiful City is by far the most interesting. Love and Anger has its moments but is a slog. Tough! is pointless but at least has some heart. I wish I had the opportunity to see them performed.

[T. Crouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walker is one of my favorite living playwrights. Despite the crude violence and language that is sprinkled throughout, his work elevates humor to its darkest and most insightful level. "The East End Plays: Pts. 1 & 2" together represent some of his most potent writing. Watching petty criminals orbit each other in cheap hotel rooms lays bare the futility of human endeavor in the most hilarious way. You'll spend half your time trying to diagnose the mental proclivities of the characters, and the other half laughing at the ridiculous tactics they try to get out of the messes they create. His words jump off the page, alive in your mind as if the show were being staged somewhere in your frontal cortex. Honestly, these plays are downright funny - not because they mock the mental health of their characters, but because they represent mental issues accurately as leading to real-world dilemmas that we can all relate to. The fact they effectively carry deeper messages about habit, routine and mental health demonstrates Walker's strengths as a storyteller.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful City - 4.5
Love And Anger - 5
Tough! - 4