Ginger Dayle
March 2004
English 109
Playwriting
Questions for Langford Wilson's Lemon Sky
1. The structure that Langford Wilson chose for Lemon Sky is a unique, non-exactly-chronological choice for storytelling. Although I found it confusing at first, it did draw me in right away because of its unusual approach and ended up working quite well. It is hard for me to determine one succinct inciting incident in this play because the action that happens between the characters is the action that incites the narrator Alan to be telling the story twenty years later. I think the primary conflict is Alan having been raised without his father since he was about five. This primary conflict came out of the fact that Doug had been cheating on Alan's mother for years, eventually marrying an unknowing Ronnie in secret and then running off to California. I think an important concept Wilson was trying to show was how innocent and optimistic Alan was when he first came to California.
Wilson arrv'g. in Wash'n. (LOC)
Wilson leaving Princeton, 10/19/15 (LOC)
Wilson Leaves Hotel (LOC)Although this ca be seen form his interaction with his new family, it is more clearly outlined by the wiser Alan of the 1970s. The older Alan was there every step of the way narrating the piece, describing how he felt, what things were really like, and what he would have done or said differently. He also pointed out things that may have seemed minor to the audience but factored into the plot largely later on. An example of this is when Penny is introduced. He describes her as "great" but "sort of a dope." This makes her seem forgettable, an almost unimportant character. But then Alan mentions that she will factor in importantly later on. He does this so that we don't just dismiss Penny and also to be prepared for a climatic moment...