Out for the Count, or, How would you like your stake? Book

A really interesting, cleverly written play that looks at the generational divide in a new way, displaying not only their differences but their similarities and emotional inheritance, as well as exploring the impact of the different eras on the women. A moving play, full of the ups and downs of life - although some people may find the character of Jackie selfish - giving away her baby and focusing on her career - I feel mainly sympathy for her: it was a decision that she was pressured to make and had little choice. It would be a really interesting and thought provoking play to watch on stage, especially due to the use of the same 4 actresses to portray the women at varying ages from childhood to old age. Reading the commentary, it is astonishing to see how much thought Keatley put into the play, right down to sentence level choices - this helps to justify close reading for me, which, until now, I didn't wholly believe to be correct in its constant level of detail.