The Dear Departed | Part 1 | X Class - Unit 2

[00:00:00]Welcome to The Dear Departed, an analytical playbill of greed, grief, and stolen furniture.

[00:00:08]Today, we are breaking down a sharp one-act satirical play that acts as a hilarious [music] yet scathing mirror.

[00:00:17]First, let's meet our players, divided into two competing camps of in-laws.

[00:00:23]On one side, we have the Slaters. Amelia Slater is vigorous, plump, red-faced, and vulgar. Her husband, Henry, is a stooping man with a drooping mustache who mostly does what he's told.

[00:00:37]They have a precocious [music] 10-year-old daughter, Victoria.

[00:00:41]On the other side are the Jordans.

[00:00:44]Elizabeth Jordan is stout, complacent, and carries an irritating air of always being right.

[00:00:51]>> [music] >> Her husband, Ben, is a jolly little man forced into a somber role for the day.

[00:00:58]And the cause for this gathering?

[00:01:01]The deceased, 72-year-old [music] Abel Merryweather, or so they think.

[00:01:07]Before the Jordans even arrive, Amelia establishes the theme of the day, the optics of grief.

[00:01:15]She snaps at young Victoria, "It would never do for them to find you in [music] colors with grandfather lying dead upstairs."

[00:01:24]Amelia's [music] primary concern isn't the loss of her father.

[00:01:28]It's maintaining the visual performance of [music] mourning before her rival sister gets there. Act two, the warm-up theft and the bureau blueprint narrator.

[00:01:40]But before the performance can begin, there's time for a little pre-mourning plunder.

[00:01:46]Call it the warm-up theft.

[00:01:49]Amelia spots her father's [music] brand new slippers and forces Henry to put them on.

[00:01:54]When Henry protests that they are too small, Amelia snaps, "They'll stretch, won't they? I'm not going to have them wasted."

[00:02:04]From there, the greed escalates to heavy lifting.

[00:02:08]Amelia eyes a handsome clock and a pretty, locked, old-fashioned bureau upstairs.

[00:02:15]In a tactical maneuver, she and Henry dragged the prized bureau and clock downstairs into the parlor, replacing the bureau with a shabby old chest of drawers.

[00:02:27]The goal, secure the goods before Elizabeth knocks, so she won't notice they were ever missing. Act three, sisters in greed and the premium panic narrator.

[00:02:39]Enter the Jordans, showcasing their own new morning attire.

[00:02:44]Elizabeth arrives solemn and superior.

[00:02:47]Ben tries his best to adapt to the regrettable occasion.

[00:02:52]When we look at the two sisters side by side, it's a battle of competitive victimhood and asset allocation.

[00:03:01]Amelia sniffles constantly, boasts about putting up with Grandpa for 3 years, and has already stolen the bureau, clock, and slippers.

[00:03:12]Elizabeth counters with stoic superiority, claims she put up with him for 5 years, and immediately marks her territory on Grandpa's gold watch for our Jimmy.

[00:03:24]Their priorities become hilariously clear when the body is discovered cold.

[00:03:30]A telegram is sent, the furniture is stolen, and the Jordans arrive.

[00:03:36]Amelia asks, "Well, will you go up and look at him now, or shall we have tea?"

[00:03:42]Without missing a beat, they choose tea.

[00:03:45]But the cozy tea party is interrupted by the insurance suspense.

[00:03:50]Victoria reveals that Grandpa went past St. Philip's Church with a friend instead of going into town to pay his insurance premium. Watch how quickly the narrative flips.

[00:04:02]When they think he paid, he is too honorable to have gone without paying.

[00:04:08]The moment they think the premium is overdue, he becomes a drunken old beggar who swindled them and done it on purpose just to annoy us. Act four, the question of furniture and the resurrection.

[00:04:23]Narrator, eager to find the insurance receipt, Amelia sends a terrified Victoria upstairs to grab the keys from the dead man's room.

[00:04:34]But while Victoria's up there, Elizabeth spots the new furniture downstairs.

[00:04:39]"Where did you pick that up, Amelia?

[00:04:41]It's new since last I was here." she asks.

[00:04:45]Amelia quickly covers with a lie. "Oh, Henry picked it up one day."

[00:04:51]Suddenly, Victoria dashes back downstairs frantic. "Grandpa's getting up. I saw him."

[00:04:58]Cue the ultimate twist. The stage directions say it all.

[00:05:02]Abel Merryweather walks in, vigorous, well-colored, in his stockinged feet, and chuckling.

[00:05:11]The dead man walks, completely unaware of his own funeral arrangements.

[00:05:18]>> [bell]