Ruby moon drama essay

Dulcie starts her short monologue with, The line itself has no affect on the audience, but after seeing two different productions of Ruby Moon myself, as a member of the audience I felt Dulcie’s tone of voice to be quite bitter and sarcastic. Her tone felt harsh and made me think, ‘That’s not fair, the man has lost his child.’

Australian theatre, as proved by Ruby Moon and A Beautiful Life, can range from realist, absurdist, or Brechtian theatre styles. Ruby Moon is what you call a fractured fairytale. The convention and form of the play is very much like absurdist theatre, and is performed with realist acting, set, and props.

Humour – such as Sid’s loveable but also creepy child-like behaviour; Veronica’s sexual implications; and Sonny Jim’s poem filled with teenage mentality – is used throughout the play to entertain the audience. The humour breaks some of the tension, which keeps the audience listening, participating in the moment, and keeping them engaged.

In scene five and eight, Veronica and Dawn further corrupt Ruby’s innocence by telling Ray that Ruby preferred the company of adults and that Ruby had “a real mean streak”. Even though the idea of Ruby not being innocent is continuously forced upon the audience, the audience never gets the clear picture.