HIM
Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here?
HER
No. But unless you hurry things up, you’re going to be more of a murder victim than a suicide.
HIM
Are you threatening me?
HER
Yes.
HIM
You can’t make me jump.
HER
No, but I can make you fall. I doubt oblivion will quibble over the details.
“Funny” isn’t usually the first word that comes to mind when thinking about oblivion. But that’s the thing about dark humour: it pushes its way through your discomfort until you can’t help but laugh at its absurdity. And Craig Dobson’s stage play, Birds of Paradise, certainly does just that.
Every play has a focal point, and when a script is short, that point needs to be strong and steady. This play’s focus is on its two characters, ‘Her’ and ‘Him’, as they fight over who gets to commit suicide first (enter the dark humour). Despite being nameless, each character is distinguishable, even though we’re only seeing a minute instant of their lives. ‘Her’ has been researching the spot and planning her fall for months, and is eager now to get it over with. Whereas ‘Him’ seems less sure about his fatal choice, despite his insistence on ‘Her’ not interrupting him at the beginning.
The two characters contradict each other quite well, each using biting humor to argue or prolong their point. The reader is kept engaged by the fact that the characters have different goals; ‘Her’ cannot be dissuaded from her own. She wants to end it all right here, right now, and she won’t let ‘Him’ stand in the way, even if it means that they go together. And yet ‘Him’, despite having come to the setting to die in the first place, argues with ‘Her’ about their situation, acting almost as if he’s looking for absolution from his choice. This is a contrast that keeps the reader interested throughout the play, something which is hard to do when the characters have nowhere else to go on the stage. It’s important that the reader is as invested in the conversation as possible, and this script certainly delivers.
It’s not just Dobson’s cheeky humour that makes this piece enjoyable; it’s the fact that, despite how dark the ending may be, we’re completely engrossed in getting to it. So, tragic though the results may be, we can’t look away from it, which means that the play’s witty characters have dragged us into their choices just as much as they have each other.
Tatianna Kalb, Drama Editor
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