Wednesday, March 13th

Thirst – consideration of the text – characters, plot, setting, and themes

Assignment for Wednesday, March 13th

Read Thirst, by Ronan Noone, published by TRW Plays, 2023

Available for purchase online at https://shop.trwplays.com/product/thirst/

Reflection Prompts

1. What are your first impressions of Thirst based on reading it. How does it work independently of Long Day's Journey? What are the advantages, if any, of knowing Long Day's Journey?

2. Compare Noone's stage directions with O'Neill's. How do the stage directions in Thirst affect your reading of the play? 

3. What elements do the settings of the two plays share and do they have the same impact? 

4. In what ways does the plot of Thirst reflect and/or reflect on the plot of Long Day's Journey Into Night? 

5. Based on your knowledge of Long Day's Journey Into Night, in what ways do the characters of Cathleen, Jack, and Bridget surprise you? In what ways are they consistent or not with their namesakes in the O'Neill play? How do they reflect the Tyrone characters in O'Neill's play?

6. Noone has said that a central theme of the play is "what it means to come to America and put down new roots." How is this reflected in the experiences of his three characters? And how do their experiences compare with that of the Tyrones?

7. What other themes do the two plays have in common? Are there any themes that are unique to Thirst in comparison to Long Day's Journey?

8. What do you see as the major production challenges of Thirst? What aspects of it, or specific scenes, are you most looking forward to seeing in performance and why?