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K. Alexa Mavromatis’s play titled “Bone China” is about these two sisters, Mary and Lainie going through their old belongings in their childhood home’s attic. Their mother passed away due to a drunk driver and it seems that Lainie is also sick due to a tumor she has had ever since she was pregnant with her daughter Sarah. As Mary and Lainie go through boxes of old belongings, they come across their old bone china, which is the strongest china there is. Finding that led them to talking about how Lainie will be dying soon and Mary would have to be there for her daughter Sarah and her husband Nathan. Mary and Lainie’s sisterly-bond is strong, and it somewhat reminds me of my sister and I’s relationship. Once we talk about the Barbie dolls we used to own, we can talk for hours on end just like they could. Although their mother’s death is a burden, I feel as if it may have brought them close together since they are sitting in their childhood home. It just makes me sad knowing Lainie will soon be gone too, but I believe Mary is an amazing aunt. Overall, this piece touched my heart in the best way and made me think of my sister completely.
ReplyDeleteClarissa Partida
I really enjoyed reading this because with the way it was done I was able to put myself in their shoes and think of how i would feel in that situation or what i would do/how i would act. From the beginning I didnt understand the title because of the "bone" part for some reason I thought it was going to deal with fossils. It made me realize that people arent in your life from one day to another and there is nothing you can do about it, as heartbreaking as it is.
ReplyDeleteMy grandma passed away recently and I was shocked at first, it hadn't really hit me that i wouldn't be seeing her anymore, and when we went to her house for the viewing my whole family was there. i was able to talk to my cousin who i spent most of my childhood with and i felt like Mary and Lainie when we were walking around the house looking at all the old memories/pictures/money that she would collect.
I really enjoyed this because it was really heartwarming. Bone China was a great piece that I enjoyed reading and hope we read more like this.
-Cecilia Cantu
Bone China really did strike a nerve with me. I’m the oldest between my sister and I and I am constantly thinking about how the death of one of our parents is going to affect us and our relationship and what I -- being the oldest, will have to do afterward. However, in this play, the roles are reversed. The oldest sister is the one who is sick and the youngest is the one that will have to “hold down the fort,” so to speak. I do like how the teacups are representative of the sisters. When the first cup is found, Laine, the oldest is the one who finds it. She is also the only one between the two who is comfortable discussing her mortality and what will happen after it. As the story goes on, the sisters bond more and more and in the end, come to a comfortable understanding of how the other feels. In the end, the second cup is found by the youngest sister, showing how she is not hiding from the eventual death of her sister that she has been trying to avoid talking about. The cups are set next to each other, signaling how both sisters have become closer because of this unfortunate tragedy but are still united.
ReplyDelete-Bethanee Campos
What I liked about the ten-minute play “Bone China” by K. Alexa Mavromatis is that Mary was concern about her sister Lainie because both of them have gone through a lot of things, the death of their mother to begin with. However, Mary is always there for her sister to motivate her and lift her spirits. What I also like if that Mary did not gave up with her sister I know some brothers and sister says you know what I already talked to him or her couple of times and they don’t seem to understand so I better get away from them. What I did not like about the 10-minute play is when Mary accidentally closed the attic door and she and her sister Lainie were locked up. Nor did I like the attitude Elaine was having with her sister Mary. Mary told her lets go for a walk or we should go out to watch a movie to have a good time. However, Elaine was refusing to go out with Mary she kind of said I am fine here in the attic. I can understand why Lainie wants to isolate herself from the world because her mother passed away, the tumor, the surgeries, the divorce with her husband living her alone with her 2-year-old daughter being a single mom and dying soon is not something easy she can deals with.
ReplyDeleteOscar A. Jacome Serrano
Wow… After reading Bone China, I was not expecting it to be this depressing, but there is always a positive that you can take away from it. This play explores elements such as death, past memories, love, or anything else a reader can take from it. After reading that Lainie and Mary’s mom had passed away, it made me think that many people have had to deal with a similar situation. Also, when Lainie started talking about how she was going to pass away soon because of some health problems, it made me appreciate my life more than ever. She also mentions that she is leaving behind a daughter and a husband whom she loves very much but it devastated at the same time. She is devastated that her daughter will never get to remember who she was or how she looks because kids usually don’t until they reach a certain age. Nonetheless, Lainie couldn’t help but go through the boxes that were in the attic and look at all the things their mother had left behind. Mary was trying her best to distract her and get away from the distant memories. Lainie did not care and wanted to keep going through them. The Bone China tea set was the most memorable thing they found up there because it reminded them the most of their mom.
ReplyDelete-Alec De La Garza
Well, Bone China was indeed a good piece to read due to the fact that it was deep and intense with it's content. Though it was giving a sad and depressing tone throughout the entirety it was intending to project various touching topics of life, in one scenario. After reading it, i was able to feel some kind of relation to it in regards of Lainie and of course, her mom passing away is very hard on mothers. As a mother i often think about how terrible i would feel leaving my son and any future children i may have one day. tomorrow is definitely not promised, therefore we should not take life for granted, but be grateful for what we have and for being whole and healthy. seeing how they held on to the Bone China tea set because of the sentimental value it possessed due to it belonging to their mother made me realize how we all tend to do this. Not necessarily with someone who already passed away, but someone we might just miss in general. We tend to relate a certain object or maybe a sound/song, smell to someone we love and therefore give that object or essence a beloved value.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Rodriguez
I really did enjoy Bone China, something about it made me have many mixed emotions. I was sad and then happy all at once. It was kind of sad reading how one of these sisters, knows that they are going to die eventually. That they start talking about the afterlife, what will happen to her daughter, how her husband will be. This took a turn in the story, and talking about something that could happen. I loved how it did switch from funny, to sad, back to heartwarming. The ending I think was very nice, we got to see the two sisters really laugh and have fun in this little space. I think it showed how close they were, and how they talked about the past and laughed out some things. It also kind of kills you inside, because you know one of them is dying and moments like these are what makes it happy, but hurts a bit because as the audience we know what’s to come. I thought it was a wonderful story, the way it was written and I would love to see on stage too, to see how certain reactions are, or see some things I may have missed.
ReplyDelete-Alyssa Rangel
one China was definitely a play that is meant to be perceived as a dialogue to reflect on, as we get a front row seat to these two sisters still figuring it all out, coping with their mother’s death and their childhood. I thought it was quite a unique way to display it as it is mostly done through dialogue. I think it is very interesting to look at death and dissect someone’s life when it is two characters who knew that person in life, as they each carry a different perspective of the same person - they can learn new things about said person while at the same time bond over the similarities. I think the play also does an interesting job at displaying the wide-variety of thoughts that one may ponder on when someone passes away, especially when one of the sisters expresses that she’s glad her mom passed away although it’s not for the reason you think. It also plays on nostalgia as it takes place in an attic filed with things they grew up with and means a good deal to them, not only breaking down their walls but reminding them of a time when mom was their shield as they were small.
ReplyDelete-Luis Garza
Bone China is easily my second favorite of all the plays we’ve read so far. The story, while interesting, is not particularly profound, nor are the characters the most memorable, still the author using tone and clever dialogue managed to create a very enjoyable play. I can’t say that any particular part of this play was the most enjoyable. Somehow the author managed to set and maintain a tone tinged lightly with both happiness and sadness. I don’t know that this is the perfect tone for the story, but nonetheless, it is very unique and very well done. Another thing that stands out is the way the author laid out so much information in such a short time without getting bogged down is extremely impressive to me. There are extremely accomplished authors out there who have trouble pacing the flow of information while having much more room to work. This makes the play a technical spectacle to me, but I feel like the plot resonates very deeply with most people too. My only sibling is much older than me, so it is difficult for me to relate too closely to the character’s reminiscences. Overall, I think this is a great play for both study and performance.
ReplyDelete- Christopher Hinkle
Bone China was interesting because they made death/cancer feel as if it wasn’t a taboo topic to discuss. It felt like a conversation that I may have overheard a one point in my life if I was around that scene. This type of play style felt like all the ones that we have gone over thus far. The introduction of how they would tell her daughter of her mother’s death intrigued me. The idea that a 2-year-old may even remember is kind of not really important because they wont miss what they do not remember. On the other hand, if the child feels a strong connection with their mother, then maybe, as the sisters discussed, it would become the child’s first memory. My earliest memory has to be when I crashed into a tree while riding my bike. I must have been between the ages of 6-8. I was still living in my old town and I remember vividly waiting for the carne asada to be done. If my memory serves me right, it was a Sunday night, a night before school started again. I guess that in itself was a traumatic memory, I don’t think I have a scar nor do I remember what part of my body was injured or what happened after the incident.
ReplyDeleteJonathon Morin
Bone China is one of my favorite plays that we have read because I love the nostalgia that the two characters in the play seem to be surrounded by in the attic. Mary and Lainie talk about the death of their mother, where they reminisce their childhood. Lainie then talks about death that is waiting around the corner for her from the cancer that she has. I try to make the connection of the old bone China to how strong Lainie is to be so at peace with her diagnosis and death. The dialogue between these two are as if it is a conversation my siblings and I could have with each other. It is very relatable, but it also hits very close to home because of the reality of illness’ and how not everyone gets a happy ending. Nostalgia is something that keeps a lot of us going because we love to remember the good times that we have had in our lives. Visualizing Mary and Lainie’s conversation brought me joy because it reminds me of simpler times of playing outside with my siblings and scraping our knees from playing too hard on the street. This is a great play and I hope there is a live action one to see on YouTube, so these characters can be brought to life. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got emotional watching it. Overall, amazing play!
ReplyDeleteKrista Olivarez
I thought this play was beautiful. It showed the almost exact relationship/friendship between two sisters. It was refelective of my own relationship with my sister. The older sister in the play was very defelective with her feelings, she would use comedy, i think, to keep herself from facing the truth. Which is something i do all the time, no matter how serious the issue when im with my sister, i never weant her to know just how serious it is to me, i always want to diffuse the seriousness, or put a mask on it. I try to keep things light and not so serious so that no one treats me different,or thinks that it will change me, and that's how the older sister in the play was acting. And much like the little sister, my little sister is the type to go along with the joke but then look me in the eye and say "but seriously what are you going to do". My first thought was that the two teacups at the end represented the mom, and big sister being together in heaven and not being able to have a "teaparty" because theyre together again. I think that the teacups were very visually symbolic and if the play was longer, or if it was a movie then the big sister would have passed on the next day, or a couple days after their good time in the attic. That was atmosphere that i got from this, that it was almost like her final days. All in all i loved this play and would love to see it performed! I think it would be great!
ReplyDeleteI thought this play was beautiful. It showed the almost exact relationship/friendship between two sisters. It was refelective of my own relationship with my sister. The older sister in the play was very defelective with her feelings, she would use comedy, i think, to keep herself from facing the truth. Which is something i do all the time, no matter how serious the issue when im with my sister, i never weant her to know just how serious it is to me, i always want to diffuse the seriousness, or put a mask on it. I try to keep things light and not so serious so that no one treats me different,or thinks that it will change me, and that's how the older sister in the play was acting. And much like the little sister, my little sister is the type to go along with the joke but then look me in the eye and say "but seriously what are you going to do". My first thought was that the two teacups at the end represented the mom, and big sister being together in heaven and not being able to have a "teaparty" because theyre together again. I think that the teacups were very visually symbolic and if the play was longer, or if it was a movie then the big sister would have passed on the next day, or a couple days after their good time in the attic. That was atmosphere that i got from this, that it was almost like her final days. All in all i loved this play and would love to see it performed! I think it would be great!
ReplyDeleteAisha Teegarden