Hi everybody,
Thanks for all the interest! A few people have asked the question: “What exactly is the genre of the play...? Comedy, drama, fable…?" Good question... as Australians often say!
An Elephant in the Room incorporates quite a few genres. However, it is easiest described as a black comedy with fables.
A well known example of a black comedy is George Bernard Shaw’s Androcles and the Lion which is a comedy about feeding Christians to the lions. It’s also a fable as I don’t think Mr. Shaw (GBS) intended us to believe that the lion would actually remember Androcles as being the man who pulled the thorn from his foot some months before.
Androcles and the Lion does, however, raise the point that some of us would rather be eaten by lions than repent against the Christian faith. Some of the Christians choose death in preference to lighting a candle and re-converting back to the faith of the Roman Sun God.
It is this curious human phenomenon that GBS used the fable of Androcles as the metaphor to iterate… and did so with much comedy for our entertainment.
To me, entertainment is an important factor when I pay cash for my theatre ticket and gamble on my enjoyable night out!
Best to you all,
Robert
