Love

Although they are more complicated and many-layered than the simple words might suggest, McNally declares his important themes in the very title of his play: Love! Valour! Compassion! Through the dialogue and action of the play, he explores the way these abstract ideas have very real impacts on the lives of his eight characters, and he suggests how they may impact all of us.

The first words of the play introduce one of its most important themes. "Um. I love my. Um. House," Gregory stutters in the opening narration. He continues, explaining that he loves not only the house itself (the antique furniture and wallpaper, the lighted windows, and so forth) but also the happy memories it contains and the joyful times he continues to have there with his friends all around. Gregory's house is a refuge of sorts from the rest of the world, a place where...