Eric Bogosian's Suburbia

To be brief, SubUrbia is a play written by Eric Bogosian. The producing theater of the play had been held in the Mitzi E. New House Theater, which was held by Lincoln Center Theater. (Richards, 1994) SubUrbia takes place in suburban Burnfield with a group of nine 20-something year old characters who always hangout in front of an old seven-eleven gas station run by an immigrant couple looking to make the American Dream a reality. The play introduces 7 characters within a matter of minutes, Tim who is an alcoholic and who was discharged from the US Air Force, Buff who is a wannabe video editor who has a stolen camcorder and who records everything and anything, Jeff, the only one out of the group of men from Burnfield who seems somewhat decent,
Norman and Pakeeza are Pakistani immigrants who own the seven eleven and only want to make the American Dream a reality, Bee-Bee has just left her drug addiction behind herself and is trying to move on with her life, and Sooze, Jeff’s girlfriend, who wants to make a name for herself and move to New York City to live her life and make a new beginning for herself in the big city.
The group tends to socialize in front of the seven eleven as they pass the time, living day by day, care free of the world around them except for maybe the woman (excluding Norman who seems to be the only male figure in the entire play who is trying to make something of himself.) The men only drink and eat pizza as they tell each other stories of what has happened with their lives that may seem of interest to the rest of the group. However, an 8th and 9th character soon emerge from the plot. Pony, a former resident of Burnfield now self made rocker and success story to the residents of the seven eleven, and Erica, Pony’s assistant who is never far away from him. With the introduction of Pony, everything that was peaceful and drama-free will now cease to exist. The men of the film spite Pony for his success and are jealous, while Sooze especially adores Pony for venturing out into the unknown and making a name for
himself. Sooze mentions the idea of leaving for New York City and this strains her relationship with Jeff, who wants to just stay in Burnfield. Once Pony actually arrives Tim gets at it with him for ruining the peace. Tempers continue to flare increasingly and at the end of it all, the climax so to speak, Bee-Bee is found with a bottle of what looks like whiskey, the bottle being empty, and her dead on the scene from alcohol poisoning. The play itself paints a picture of what is actually happening now, especially in small town America.
The youth, after graduating from high school, generally don't make a long term plan. They stick with what is happening now and live on a day-to-day basis, not thinking of what their actions could cause. As seen in the play, the hoodlums trash the parking lot of the seven eleven, making Norman spend extra time away from his wife at night or in the morning to clean up his business. The actors, how they act, is a great representation of how he or she would actually act living such a life style of not caring about the world around them and only thinking of themselves. The playwright’s play is almost sort of an epiphany happening through the course of it. Rising tension occurs as the characters themselves see that their existence is simply futile at this point, and they are frustrated with the fact that have completed barely anything with the lives that were given to them. Some, in this case Bee-Bee, cannot take the struggles of life anymore and simple cease to exist in the end. If a play in the genre of realism is done correctly, the audience will be attracted to it and they will simply step into the realm of the play. The set designer does this eloquently with how the stage is designed, all the props, the detailed, brick inlaid seven eleven building, the leaves, and beer cans help elevate the authenticity of the play. The costume designer also aids in bringing the audience
into this new reality by deciding what the characters will wear and what is appropriate for the setting of the play. The lighting designer dimming the lights when needed and brightening them signifies time of day and where the audience’s attention should be like when Bee-Bee and Buff happen to be alone in front of the seven eleven and have a heart to heart talk. Last but not least we have the director, the one person who is needed to piece everything together and grab the deeper meaning of the playwrights text, so that he or she is able to reproduce this visually and authentically. The director holds a key role in this play for it is his final say on whether or not something should be added or taken out, his or her vision of the play must be reproduced, but that reproduction does not happen alone; the set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, the actors themselves, and even the audience must take part in making this vision a reality. The play holistically represents what has happened and what is happening in the present day, students aren’t seeing such any vision after high school and are just left to their own devices; whether that would be making it out on their own like Pony, trying then failing then giving up like Tim, living in a false reality like Jeff, having the aspiration to leave but are being held back like Sooze, or simply giving up like Bee-Bee.