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A review by breathehopebooks
Caroline, or Change by Tony Kushner
3.0
2.75 so rounding up. So sorry if this seems scathing.
I completely understand that this is a play/theatrical text, and that the book is written as so. I did read this while listening to the cast recording so that I could better understand the story, because much of the "dialogue" is spoken simultaneously over multiple characters (hope that makes sense).
Still, I found the story very dull and confusing. WHY did THIS story need to be told THIS WAY? With these characters and these plot points?
Yes, the musical tells the story of the mother of a Black family who works as the maid for a wealthy White/Jewish family in 1960s Louisiana. But there are characters and conflicts set up within the plot that serve no real purpose or have no real resolution (probably the point when it comes to a story about Civil Rights in America, about issues and conflicts about racism in America haven't ever gone away or been resolved). It made the musical feel incomplete and lacking in proper direction and reason.
On top of the that, the appliances that Caroline regularly used during her work were inexplicably anthropomorphized; they had voices and spoke to her. BUT LIKE WHY?! And yeah, duh, the change she collects from the kid's pocket is supposed to represent social change. All of the metaphors are obvious and make the statement they are striving to make. But to what end?
There's a literally a scene where the Black daughter and the Jewish grandfather get into a debate about . . . something? The plight of civil rights in America? It was so confusing to track.
And there are plot lines that go NOWHERE. Like the White/Jewish family is made up of the boy, his dad, his step-mom and her father. And the dad is kinda absent because he's a musical genius but also mourning his dead first wife. okay. So now his second wife, the step-mom, is trying really hard to connect with the boy and be a good mom but not replace his real mom because she was best friends with his real mom but also complains about the boy preferring mean ol' maid Caroline to her but also tries take charge of her household because as the step-mom she is THE woman of the household and WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER? WHAT IS THE POINT THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO MAKE WITH ANY OF THIS?
This show--because it was a show--tackles a lot of important topics, like family and motherhood and racism and civil rights and society and change. It uses and references actual Civil Rights events as the historical backdrop, but doesn't do much with the discussions it creates regarding its time and place. I'm sure I would feel differently about the whole thing if I experienced as it was meant to be--performed on stage--but as it is I just did not enjoy this very much.
I completely understand that this is a play/theatrical text, and that the book is written as so. I did read this while listening to the cast recording so that I could better understand the story, because much of the "dialogue" is spoken simultaneously over multiple characters (hope that makes sense).
Still, I found the story very dull and confusing. WHY did THIS story need to be told THIS WAY? With these characters and these plot points?
Yes, the musical tells the story of the mother of a Black family who works as the maid for a wealthy White/Jewish family in 1960s Louisiana. But there are characters and conflicts set up within the plot that serve no real purpose or have no real resolution (probably the point when it comes to a story about Civil Rights in America, about issues and conflicts about racism in America haven't ever gone away or been resolved). It made the musical feel incomplete and lacking in proper direction and reason.
On top of the that, the appliances that Caroline regularly used during her work were inexplicably anthropomorphized; they had voices and spoke to her. BUT LIKE WHY?! And yeah, duh, the change she collects from the kid's pocket is supposed to represent social change. All of the metaphors are obvious and make the statement they are striving to make. But to what end?
There's a literally a scene where the Black daughter and the Jewish grandfather get into a debate about . . . something? The plight of civil rights in America? It was so confusing to track.
And there are plot lines that go NOWHERE. Like the White/Jewish family is made up of the boy, his dad, his step-mom and her father. And the dad is kinda absent because he's a musical genius but also mourning his dead first wife. okay. So now his second wife, the step-mom, is trying really hard to connect with the boy and be a good mom but not replace his real mom because she was best friends with his real mom but also complains about the boy preferring mean ol' maid Caroline to her but also tries take charge of her household because as the step-mom she is THE woman of the household and WHY DOES ANY OF THIS MATTER? WHAT IS THE POINT THE AUTHOR IS TRYING TO MAKE WITH ANY OF THIS?
This show--because it was a show--tackles a lot of important topics, like family and motherhood and racism and civil rights and society and change. It uses and references actual Civil Rights events as the historical backdrop, but doesn't do much with the discussions it creates regarding its time and place. I'm sure I would feel differently about the whole thing if I experienced as it was meant to be--performed on stage--but as it is I just did not enjoy this very much.