The Shadow Box

The Shadow Box Summary | Act 1 Summary

The Shadow Box is a two-act play that showcases the lives of three terminally ill people and their families during one day at a special treatment hospital. The socially taboo subject of death and dying is placed in a symbolic shadow box for the audience to view while the human drama is enacted. The author was awarded both a Pulitzer Prize a Tony Award in 1977 for this work.

As the play opens, a man named Joe is seen in a cottage that could be mistaken for a vacation home on a beach. Also on the stage is a small area with a small stool that is suddenly lit up and draws Joe's attention. This area is called the "Interview Area." As Joe sees the light, he steps into this area and looks forward intently as the voice from an unseen person, the interviewer, is heard.

Joe awkwardly adjusts to the unusual situation of talking with a faceless voice but gradually relaxes as the interviewer explains that there is nothing to be frightened of, this is merely the hospital's method of staying in communication with residents of the cottages. Joe is a terminally ill patient who has been released from the hospital temporarily in order to spend time with his family at one of the hospital's specially equipped cottages.

Joe is vigorous and in good humor because his wife, Maggie, and son, Steve, will be arriving shortly. Maggie and Steve have remained on the East Coast during Joe's hospitalization in California and they haven't seen each other for six months. The hospital expenses and the long distance have made regular visits prohibitive. Joe had also discouraged the travel because he had always assumed he would return home. Now that going home is not an option, Maggie and Steve will be coming to see Joe.

Joe has tried to explain the full situation to Maggie but admits to the interviewer that sometimes it just takes Maggie a little while to fully understand things but he hopes that Maggie will love being at the cottage. Joe has also asked his wife to explain the situation to their son, Steve, who is fourteen years old.

As Maggie and Steve approach, Joe shares with the interviewer that adapting to his terminal condition has not been easy and it takes a while to adjust. Joe's first reaction was fear and secondly he was angry. Joe is angry that his illness has made him more of an object than a person and has not been able to vent his feelings. The interviewer assures Joe that any emotion is acceptable and the interviewer is available to listen at any time.

Joe's interview is halted for now as Maggie and Steve have arrived at the cottage. Steve is elated to see his father and hugs him several times and expresses how much he has missed Joe. Maggie lags a bit behind with the luggage and refuses to enter the cottage, preferring to remain on the porch and show Joe some of the items she has brought from home including food and newspapers. Maggie is adamant about not going into the cottage and engages Joe in conversation about her plane trip. Ultimately Maggie breaks down and cries and she and Joe admit how much they have missed each other. According to Maggie, Joe looks perfectly healthy and does not understand the gravity of his condition. Joe tries to explain but Maggie will not listen. Maggie finally relents and Joe tells her that everything is all right.

A man named Brian is now spotlighted in the Interview Area and he shares his perspective on death as one where people think life is supposed to last forever. Brian has never been able to understand that belief system when in fact death is the only thing anyone can be sure of. Brian feels that people would be better off if they would admit to the reality of their own death, that way people would live more authentic lives instead of trying methods to prolong the inevitable.

Brian is a writer but feels that his eloquence has been thwarted by the mechanics of dying. Brian's former wife, Beverly, had left him because he wanted to write and discuss everything and not participate and indulge fully in life. According to Beverly, Brian had lost the magic and the zest for real living. Brian rationalizes that every person must live life on his own terms and that Beverly must be happy or she would have returned to him.

Brian's interview concludes with him telling the interviewer that no one should take the process of living and dying so seriously. Each person's dreams are beautiful even though fate is sad but on a day-to-day basis life can be very amusing. The essence, though, is that each person thinks he has all the time he wants and that simply isn't the case.

A light comes up in the living room of the cottage to show a man named Mark, who is Brian's companion. Mark is putting away medications and medical supplies when Beverly walks in. Mark assesses immediately that the woman is Beverly and Beverly recognizes Mark to be Brian's current lover. There is a masked hostility between the two and Beverly uses humor to try to diffuse the situation. Beverly's answer is to have a cocktail but Mark is not interested.

Mark informs Beverly that Brian's condition is terminal and provides her with details of his condition that Beverly finds uncomfortable. Beverly chastises Mark for his cool demeanor and Mark cannot understand why Beverly is even here. Brian has had a particularly trying time lately and Mark wants to protect him, especially from emotional wounds like those inflicted by Beverly. Beverly insists on drinking though and the hostility continues between her and Mark until Mark decides to leave.

Back at the first cottage, Maggie still refuses to go inside and declares that she will enter only when she is ready to do so. Maggie's denial of Joe's illness leaves him at a loss for conversation so Joe diverts the discussion to happier topics such as the family buying a farm and living a rural life. Steve joins in the conversation and chides his mother about her inability to survive in such a situation.

Steve continues to tease his mother and tries to pull her into the cottage and eventually Maggie slaps Steve hard across the face. All three are immediately stunned until Joe comforts Steve who returns to the cottage leaving Maggie and Joe outside. Maggie finally admits that she has not told Steve about Joe's condition because she couldn't bring herself to do it mainly because she cannot believe it herself. Maggie runs away from the cottage and Joe sinks to the cottage steps, his head in his hands.

Now it is Felicity's turn to be interviewed and she is not the least bit affable. Felicity is a woman about sixty or seventy-years-old and she hums to herself to block out the sound of the interviewer. Felicity is staying at the cottage with her daughter, Agnes, who caters to her mother's every whim.

Felicity is incensed about her treatment so far at the hospital although she sometimes believes she is back in her own home and not at the hospital cottage. Felicity is angry that her body has been ravaged by disease and continues to lash out at the interviewer. Suddenly the old woman calls out for someone named Claire whom the interviewer is able to determine is Felicity's daughter.

Felicity says that Claire writes to her regularly and Felicity keeps the letters so they will be at home when she returns. Felicity's conversation drifts in and out of reality as she insists that she is at home and Claire is with her. A few minutes later Felicity tells the interviewer that Claire isn't with her but Agnes is. Felicity then calls out for Agnes who is seen in another room of the cottage. Agnes finishes what she is writing, folds the paper and places it in her pocket and moves to see what her mother needs.

Felicity undermines Agnes by telling the interviewer about how beautiful Claire and her two children are but that Agnes is a bit slower and not as pretty, more like her father than Felicity herself. Felicity demands that Agnes take her back to the cottage now and Agnes confirms with the interviewer that they will keep the appointment for the same time tomorrow. Agnes is a bit surprised when the interviewer asks to talk to Agnes tomorrow too but agrees to the idea.

Brian finally arrives at his cottage where he is reunited with Beverly who has been waiting for him. Clearly delighted to see her, Brian remarks on Beverly's dress and the excessive amount of jewelry she wears. Brian asks if Beverly and Mark have had a chance to meet and Beverly's affirmative answer is less than enthusiastic. Beverly is consumed with Brian and Mark's physical relationship and Brian succinctly tells Beverly that there are more important things to worry about at this point in his life.

Brian has taken stock of his life and is tying up loose ends and has begun to write again in the hope of not leaving anything unsaid or undone. Brian's effusiveness is suddenly tempered with reality and he admits to Beverly that the act of dying scares him to death. Convinced that he will be vitally alive until his very last moment is not the part that frightens Brian; it is that fraction of a second when a person makes that leap into the unknown that terrifies him. At that moment a person is absolutely alone and there is no alternative but to give in to it. Beverly does not know how to respond to Brian's statements so she offers champagne and makes characteristic off-hand remarks.

In Cottage Number Three, Felicity chastises Agnes who is singing a hymn. Felicity would prefer a song and launches into a bawdy little tune on her own. Agnes can no longer hide her exasperation and lashes out at Felicity but calms down and indulges Felicity's questions about Claire's imminent arrival.

Voices from the other two cottages now intermingle with Felicity and Agnes's conversation. Brian is wondering why he shakes so much now. Is the constant movement a side-effect of the disease or possibly the medication? Finally Brian comes to the conclusion that he shakes from fear. Joe's voice declares that he has a recurring dream in which everyone he has ever known appears and calls his name but eventually everything goes to white and he can no longer see them.