Analysis of "paradise package" By Geraldine Brophy

Essay by jam17vtUniversity, Bachelor'sA, October 2006

download word file, 7 pages 3.0

Geraldine Brophy's comedy, The Paradise Package, takes a humorous look at marriage and relationships in today's society. Set on a fictitious island in the south pacific, 'the Pacific Paradise Resort' is 'the sort of island that specialises in wedding packages for all comers' (Paradise package pg 2). The play follows two couples who are on the island for two different commitment ceremonies, one of which is supposed to be a surprise, which is a disaster waiting to happen when the unsuspecting victim lets slip that she was considering "opting out". It touches on political issues including the civil union bill. It deals with the darker side of marriage but also the high that is new found love. Although it is written for an older audience, and the younger audience members might not fully grasp the political implications, they will definitely get a laugh out of the quick wit of Flip U 'Ova or the dry sarcastic humour of Lu.

One main factor in this production that holds the performance together is the set. Every scene that we see is set in the same hotel room, though we are led to believe there are two different rooms for two different couples. At the beginning, I found this a little confusing, for a start I thought they were both in the same room and somehow had not yet realised it. It took a while to pick up on the 'drums' motif. When it was time for us to 'tune into' the other couple/room, we hear the beating of island drums and the lights fade out, which turned out to be an effective method of letting us know that the scene was set to change.

The fact that we are looking at the same stage set-up throughout the play, means that all props...