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John Patrick. Analysis of 3 Plays

Throughout the course of his career as a playwright, John Patrick has written many plays which present a similar theme. 3 of these plays are “The Curious Savage,” “The Teahouse of the August Moon,” and “A Bad Year for Tomatoes,” all which demonstrate the positive affects of an individual on a community. In all 3 plays there is a key similarity in the sense that each of the communities are very dull insignificant parts of their environment, and 1 person who is new to the community brings change and life to the people. In the 3 plays, Patrick relies on comedy as an important element in presenting the protagonist to the audience. Another key element he uses to present the situation is in the structure of the plot. In each play, the main character faces a challenge to convince the supporting actors either into believing or into doing something. In all 3 plays, Patrick utilizes different emotions to uncover the realities of the character’s lives through the help of the main character, which becomes an important element in presenting the theme. Overall, the theme in all 3 plays proves to be Patrick’s attempt to show us that love can conquer all evils. Patrick uses symbolism in “The Curious Savage, to explain

Patrick again surprises the audience with his choice of the setting for “The Teahouse of the August Moon.” During the Vietnam War, most novelist, filmmakers,

how each character represents a certain group in society, while using irony and characterization to describe the qualities and peculiarities of the environment in “A Bad Year for Tomatoes” and “The Teahouse of the August Moon.”

In “A Bad Year for Tomatoes” Patrick again uses Irony as a key element to present his theme, along with his focus on characterization to make his main character Marla Marlowe more appealing to the audience. In an attempt to escape from her hectic life as a Hollywood star, Marla decides to flee to a small New England town, only to find that life is just the same anywhere she goes. Her neighbors, even without knowing that she is who she is, are just as curious and nosey about her life and as annoying (though in a much different way than journalists, and tabloids would be), which is Patrick’s way of explaining that no one can really escape their world. Marla decides to create a make-believe mad, homicidal sister to scare off the nosy neighbors. The irony in the story comes into play when a local handyman develops affections for this sister which puts Marla in an even bigger bind that she began with. Marla’s arrival to this community changes it into an even more hectic environment than what she had to deal with in Hollywood. Marla’s situation is Patrick’s presentation of the case in many people’s lives in society today. While trying to escape their issues, they turn to something or someplace where they hope to take refuge from their situations; only to find that their arrival creates some sort of conflict even then.

When we picture a mental home, we usually jump to thinking of a very unstable, uncomfortable place with padded walls and people behaving uncontrollably. Instead Patrick presents this play in a way completely opposite of society’s general representation of a mental asylum. In “The Curious Savage” Patrick s

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