Play Called Absent Friends

Absent Friends is a modern comedy written for the stage. Its humor comes from the situations and actions of the characters. The setting is an afternoon tea party, thrown by a group of five \'friends\' for an old acquaintance who recently lost his fiancé.



All of the characters are an exaggeration of dislikeable traits in everybody\'s personalities; John, the workaholic who cares more for money than comfort, Paul the stereotypical self-dependant man and Evelyn, the slut succumbing to her own desires despite her husband and child. You also have Marge displaying the obsessive compulsive disorder that annoys everyone in some way and Dianas suspicious, neurotic attitude reminding everyone of someone they know and dislike.



The play moves at a steady pace with the burlesque personalities keeping the audience interested, until the character Colin is introduced. His arrival has been discussed by the characters, yet he enters at perhaps the most inconvenient time. Diana and Paul are having a heated argument over Pauls affair, and Evelyn declares \'To Hell with him\' when told she can\'t leave due to Colin arriving. This captures the audience\'s attention, so far the only facts about Colin revealed is that he last these people three years ago, and that his fiancé drowned two months previously. From this it is simple to assume he will be a quiet character, sullen and not much of a contributor to the plot.



However, he turns out to be the complete opposite of what is expected. His egotistical speeches bring up the wrong thing for every situation in this play. He talks about past relationships, how very nearly it was him rather than Paul with Diana, and constantly flirts with Evelyn. This alone makes his appearance entertaining for the audience, Paul and Dianas recent argument over Pauls relationship with Evelyn provides an awkward situation, perfect for making an empathetic audience feel for the characters, and to take much more of an...