Initially, when I read the play, I thought it was insane. I couldn’t put into words how I truly felt about it. It was funny, and I enjoyed parts of it, but the absurdity and the horror of the climax soured my feelings. However, after going to a read-along, my feelings for the play changed. I still find the play absurd and over the top, but I now admire it for that. The humor shines through much more, especially in the performance of the actress who played the midwife. She transformed her character from a shy, messy figure to a loud and goofy drunk. This simple change made her character much more dynamic and added a lot of comedy to the otherwise simple story.
Although I appreciate her interpretation of the character, I wasn’t a fan of the way Thomas was portrayed throughout the play. When I initially read it, I pictured Thomas as extremely arrogant, with an almost snobbish tone in his speech. However, the actor’s portrayal made him sound far too genuine, and his insults came across as sincere pieces of advice. Despite this, my appreciation and understanding of the play did increase.
The only other thing I found disappointing was that there was no meaning behind the rabbit. In class, we tried to decipher why the playwright had chosen a rabbit instead of a dog or another animal, but instead of having some deeper meaning, it turned out the rabbit was based on actual events. While it was interesting to learn the story behind it, I found it a bit disappointing that the rabbit turned out to be nothing more than a red herring.