Living on the Margins of Society

The play’s action is defined, scene by scene and moment by moment, by the experiences of characters trying to carve out lives for themselves on what they, and the play itself, see as the margins of society. Some aspects of this theme are revealed early in the play – Eddie, for example, can be seen as being on the margins of society because he lacks a job. Another early-revealed aspect of this idea appears in the character of Jess, who is portrayed very early on as coming from a background of being an immigrant, an outsider of some sort in any society but particularly so in the United States of the mid-2000’s, where the play is set.

Meanwhile, a significant aspect of this theme is revealed late in the action – in the play’s final scene, in fact, in which...