Mary And Lainey's Relationship In Bone China

Bone China gives the audience a personal view of two sisters’ relationship with

each other. The story centers around the sisters cleaning out their parents’ attic, going

through their late mother’s belongings. A melancholy mood is developed when the older

sister, Lainey, mentions the already known fact that she is going to die soon, leaving her

daughter motherless. The older sister, Mary, tries to lighten the mood by changing the

subject and the two reminisce about their childhood together, and eventually bring a sort of

closure to Lainey’s inevitable death.

The development in the plot gradually makes us feel more sympathetic for Lainey

and her daughter. We discover that Lainey has a terminal illness and that her daughter will

This conflict intrigues the audience, and

in addition childhood memories are mentioned, connecting the womens’ lives to the

setting, the attic.

Mary and Lainey are believable because they are average people with generally

average experiences, save for Lainey’s illness. Their normality makes them relatable to

audiences. Their dialogue also shifts as it would in normal conversation. These aspects

make lines easy to read and perform. Overall, Bone China is a lighthearted, feel-good play with very human elements. The

play is one that provokes emotion. It sometimes takes blunt realization to accept one’s

circumstances and understand true happiness and