Give Me Grief...

I first learned about Dr. Kubler-Ross’ DABDA Theory in high school. It is one of those theories one never forgets because inevitably, we will all have to cope with death.

Two current plays work best when they deal with the issue of grief and loss head on: the Off Broadway production of The Dream of the Burning Boy and the Off Off Broadway production of Paper Cranes.

The stronger of the two plays is the Roundabout Theatre Company’s The Dream of the Burning Boy which deals with how a teacher, a sister, a mother, a girlfriend and an entire school deal with the untimely death of favored student. Packawallop Productions’ Paper Cranes at Access Theater in lower Manhattan also touches on a few characters who are coping with loss - a mother and daughter and a young man who loses his girlfriend under horrific circumstances.

The characters in these two productions are pretty much lost, until they begin to open up about their sadness and grief and realize that they can and must move on.