Greg Rudd’s Australian play, The Birthday Dream, set in the early 1990’s, follows Mark Fenwick’s 27th birthday celebration family reunion. As his birthday progresses, many buried feelings and truths are brought to light as Mark, with the help of his family and friends, begins a journey to discovering the deeper meaning of many different themes including love, marriage, hope and the overall purpose of life. Rudd is able to explore the many angles of love and marriage through the use of Mark’s mother and father, as well as Brad, his old high school friend.
Love can express itself in many forms, Greg Rudd’s, The Birthday Dream, explores two different angles of love through Mother, Father, Mark and Kylie. Throughout their lives, Mark’s Mother and Father have been living in a constant state of artificial love with the Father stating, “I was excited. Full of self-esteem. At that age, that substitutes for love”. A false love they tried to force on themselves that quickly became poison in their already strained relationship, “Their love was only skin deep”. Furthermore, the concept of artificial love is further explored after Mark’s father and mother discuss their ‘love’, Mother asks, “You didn’t love me?” Sadly Father replies, “I never knew what the word [love] meant and I’m not sure I ever will”. This discussion clearly shows …show more content…
However, like Kylie and Mark other family members have been able to work through their rough patches.
Greg Rudd utilises the characters in The Birthday Dream to explore how love and marriage can be artificial and used for personal gain, shown through Mother, Father and Brad. Kylie and Mark also show how love can journey through rough times but win out in the end. Rudd, through his use of characters and themes has raised many questions for his target audience to ponder when relating to our views on love and
Love can express itself in many forms, Greg Rudd’s, The Birthday Dream, explores two different angles of love through Mother, Father, Mark and Kylie. Throughout their lives, Mark’s Mother and Father have been living in a constant state of artificial love with the Father stating, “I was excited. Full of self-esteem. At that age, that substitutes for love”. A false love they tried to force on themselves that quickly became poison in their already strained relationship, “Their love was only skin deep”. Furthermore, the concept of artificial love is further explored after Mark’s father and mother discuss their ‘love’, Mother asks, “You didn’t love me?” Sadly Father replies, “I never knew what the word [love] meant and I’m not sure I ever will”. This discussion clearly shows …show more content…
However, like Kylie and Mark other family members have been able to work through their rough patches.
Greg Rudd utilises the characters in The Birthday Dream to explore how love and marriage can be artificial and used for personal gain, shown through Mother, Father and Brad. Kylie and Mark also show how love can journey through rough times but win out in the end. Rudd, through his use of characters and themes has raised many questions for his target audience to ponder when relating to our views on love and