Marc and Joseph

Marc and Joseph to me are two highly intellectual guys who are trying to figure out why they are on the planet. Excavating the meaning of their lives. Although not overtly written in the text, they are seemingly from somewhat affluent backgrounds because of the language that they use and the aptitude in expressing their thoughts. They seem totally comfortable in their world, except for the one thing that is missing to them as expressed by Joseph. Love. And I think that puts him in a place of not knowing.

I see them as grappling with their thoughts everyday. That is their job. Being poets. Being artists. Extending their brains and bodies into the space of the unknown. There is kind've an earthy intellectualism to them. As if they are acknowledging their formalistic training as well as wanting to be grounded and human. Of the world. Lindsay has said that she sees this play as being in the 60s. Yes, the beat poets were in the 50s, but I think that their look is timeless. Certainly I can see Marc and Joseph being inspired by that generation of writers.

The look in general is very clean. Unencumbered. They could very easily be just getting up out of bed and putting on their clothes to eat breakfast as going to visit a friend or to write down the block at a coffee shop. Those clean lines also have a sort of Ralph Lauren sort of ease and power to them. 

Lindsay said something that has stuck with me - that they should be able to write and then go down and get some coffee and then come back. I think that their clothes should be a little bit darker. I think that represents for me the hardness of the life that they have to live in New York City. It is like as an artist in New York City you are living in complete poverty, unless you have family that can help you make it there. That is what happens.

I originally saw them as two caucasian men. Is that what they are? They represent an establishment, but also an attempt to jump out of that establishment. A rejection of a formalistic version of the world. You must do this. Order. A return to sensuality, but from the point of formalism. Reaching for it. For an impulsiveness. A hunger. They are reaching for hunger, are maybe sometimes actually hungry. But in their language, in the fact that they are only dealing with poetry, there seems to be a certain amount of affluence to them.

Joseph - I think he might be the most buttoned-up of the two of them. And thus, I am putting him in a button-up checked shirt. Reminds me a little of maybe you could be in a country lodge with that shirt. Might have two houses. There is a formality to it. Like a banker could wear it as well. But Joseph uses it to write or to paint or to go to a fancy house party.

"And sometimes when I look at her, I just stare. I always looked at her. Just thought I liked her. Until one day, it hit me. Like "bang." I love he. Oh, how I love her. Have you ever seen her dance? I know she loves me. But will she ever say it? Would she ever say, "I love you? I love you, Joe"? She loves me as a friend. But will she ever say, "I love you, Joe"? That is the poetry in his life. The real poetry.

Top - Button-up shirt. Maybe from L.L. Bean. That sort of thing.
Pants - Medium gray pants. Cotton so that he can move. Belt. Tucked in. Even at the top he is a little tucked in during breakfast. That is his thing. He is super smart and ordered. He has a mind that is built on making systems. And kind've a jack of all trades in the brain department. Can probably discuss Aristotle, Yeats, with the television show survivor in the same sentence. Probably went to a really good high school and college. Possibly Ivy League.

Marc - Also a very smart guy. A little looser. At the top we see him trying to write a good poem. Or at least trying to get advice about it. He doesn't get out of his shell until the end of the play. Maybe a little farther along than Joseph at the beginning of the play in terms of being more present. But he is also locked down in his outlook on life.

Top - Black knit cotton sweater. Doesn't want to think about the way he looks. I like it being a little bigger than what is required. He can swim in it a little. Maybe it fit him okay when he bought it, but then it stretched on him. Under the sweater he wears a tank-top t-shirt. Probably black. He likes the dark color. Probably likes sorrow. Feels it immensely in his life, probably from a lost love in his last year of college. Someone he thought he was going to marry, but then she decided to go for a banker.

Pants - Corduroy. Nothing says establishment like corduroy. Probably bought them from Brooks brothers. I'm thinking a hunter green. Belt, yes, but we don't see it. He just wears the sweater over top of his waistline.