Student Question
What is the plot of the play Greetings by Tom Dudzick?
Quick answer:
"Greetings" by Tom Dudzick is set on Christmas Eve at the Gorski family's home. Andy Gorski brings his fiancée, Randi, to meet his traditional Catholic parents. Tensions rise when Randi reveals she is Jewish and atheist. The climax occurs when Andy's brother, Mickey, is possessed by Lucius, a cosmic being, who communicates with the family. Lucius reveals past family emotions and unifies them, leading to Phil, the father, experiencing an epiphany and becoming more accepting.
The exposition of the play Greetings by Tom Dudzick is set on Christmas Eve at the home of Phil and Emily Gorski, an old-fashioned and extremely Catholic family. The son of the couple, Andy, is on a plane on his way to the house along with his fiancee, Randi Stein, so that he can introduce his future wife to his parents. It is obvious from the stage directions and the setting that the Gorski's are very traditional and bound to the older order of things: the husband is the dominant, judgemental "old man" a la Archie Bunker, while the wife is the subservient and submissive character. Along with the Gorskis lives Mickey, a 23 year old (sometimes portrayed as a 30 year old) mentally-challenged character who is Andy's brother, and merely utters words, as of the exposition.
The rising action occurs when Andy declares that he wants to marry Randi...
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, because the latter confesses that she is not only of Jewish descent, but also an atheist. This does not go well at all with the Gorskis and the father goes into an interminable rant in which Michael wants to participate but can't because of his speech impediment and cognitive problems.
The climax of the play occurs when Mickey becomes possessed by the spirit of a cosmic being named Lucius, who starts to speak to the family through Mickey.
After this climactic moment, comes the falling action. This occurs slowly, through interactions with Lucius. Family events from the past begin to surface through the "dialogues" with Lucius who comes in and out of the scene between the two Acts, serving not only as a revealer of the deep emotions of each character, but also as the ultimate unifier of such a disparate group. It also serves as the comic relief of the play, since the audience cannot help but wonder how Lucius came to be in the first place.
The resolution of the play is that Lucius brings changes upon every character, creating an epiphany in Phil who ends up a much calmer and less defensive father. As a result, there is a common unity in the family which had, at first, begun with total chaos.
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