Sarah Hoffman's The Memory Of Water
. Straightaway there is a dispute about whether the television was on or not. These minor arguments about memories show the tension between the sisters. They repeat the phrase “I was there” (Stephenson, 1997, 4) to argue their memory is correct but it is an argument that no one can win.
It is only after the dream sequence that the audience realise it is not reality. It primes the audience to be discerning about what on stage is in fact true. Dreams have pseudoscience theories attached to them just like medicine and homeopathy. Some people believe they can foretell the future or are messages from gods or spirits. Scientists are not sure why humans dream but it seems to be connected to memory. Ernest Hoffman is quoted about one leading theory;
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Sarah Kane’s Blasted had debuted at the Royal Court Theatre in 1995 and many of the “In-Yer-Face” playwrights had started writing at this time. A group of young playwrights working independently but reacting against the legacy of Thatcherism by writing shocking, aggressive plays to force audiences to confront society. Stephenson is not quite writing in this vein. There is dark humour in the play but her interest in science and looking at the issues of memory through homeopathy, creation of identity, and Vi’s dementia places her more towards existing playwrights like Tom Stoppard, who was also writing comedy-dramas with either philosophical or scientific …show more content…
Scene twenty-five of Plaques and Tangles includes Megan telling Lila she has, “No chutzpah, plain to look at and frightfully dull.” (Wilson, 2015, 80) This line is later repeated on page 102 with Megan stating it was what her mother (also a sufferer) told her. The structure and repeated quotes leave the audience with an unstable narrative that can change as it includes elements of the Unreliable Narrator trope.
Memories are used to form identity in The Memory of Water. Catherine believes that she was left at the beach while Teresa and Mary argue it happened to Mary who “told you about it and you appropriated it” (Stephenson, 1997, 22). It is unclear whether Catherine has done this consciously or unconsciously. With Catherine being flighty, and lying to the others about Xavier her partner, the audience may not trust her. Catherine’s sense of victimisation has become part of identity and she has rewritten her memories to confirm this. It shows memory as unreliable and adaptable to a person’s
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