Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly
Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly
Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly
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But then later, when Madeline has found out her<br />
Dad is dying...<br />
Kate I said stop crying!<br />
Madeline Why?! Why fuck would I stop crying!?<br />
Madeline rocks and cries harder.<br />
Kate I wasn’t aware we mourned for those<br />
we hate.<br />
Madeline rocks to a stop.<br />
Kate I’m just quoting. (p.78)<br />
Kate can see a special bond that exists between Paul and Madeline. In this moment she highlights it and points out<br />
something fascinating. Madeline would never be this emotional about Kate. She just doesn’t effect her like this and<br />
Kate knows this.<br />
If this was a romantic melodrama then this would be the moment when a lesser character points out to the<br />
heroine that all her antagonistic behaviour towards the hero is actually because she is deeply in love with him.<br />
This is where the tragedy lies. We believe Paul does love Madeline. Enough to give her everything. Enough to give his<br />
life when he realises that the only thing that would set her free would be if he were to be gone. His demise becomes<br />
his gift to her. He will make the ultimate sacrifice for her.<br />
Does Madeline really want to be free from her father? The father she blames for everything? What does she want from<br />
him? Has he got this one right?<br />
Look out for moments when Paul and Madeline either connect or choose not to.<br />
Note that when Madeline enters after her shower she announces “I’m here” and her mother runs to her in excitement.<br />
We have taken great care for Paul to see her but act like he has not. Yet when he arrived in the previous scene he could<br />
not stop talking about her. This is another denial of the effect that Madeline has on him. His actions are sometimes<br />
like that of a bashful teenager in love. While there is a definite theme of Paul vs Madeline we were just as interested in<br />
exploring the Paul 4 Madeline theme.<br />
Spin Paul let's go man, let's run. I'm no coward Mr Cave. I just love your daughter.<br />
Paul We all do son. Some of us are lucky enough to voice it. (p.82)<br />
(This is an obvious example of a sometimes subtle language that exists throughout the show. It is illuminating when<br />
Kate carefully and cleverly announces her understanding of it. It places Kate historically as the parent who has always<br />
been there yet never really been the one whose love was desired. This is a tragic situation and should send Kate a<br />
degree of sympathy. If not then the least we can do is accept that we may have underestimated her astuteness).<br />
In Paul and Madeline’s estranged relationship, representation of different worlds and their final battle and<br />
reconciliation, we were inspired by a surprising filmic reference. Although I doubt that when Brendan was writing the<br />
play his mind was actually on Star Wars! But that is just a reference point of our age group. The relationship between<br />
Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker could exist at any age. It is a fairy story, restoration tragedy, a western.<br />
One of the most interested and telling lines comes from Madeline when she launches her tirade at her father<br />
Madeline I have to change who I am - because of you. (p.62)<br />
Madeline lets it slip that she is trying to be something, something else. She is forced to change who she is because of<br />
what Paul is. She is essentially trying to run away from what she is, what she will become. If you like she is Luke<br />
Skywalker. Paul is Darth Vader. They are one.<br />
Madeline Dad they hate me because they know who I am. (p.59)<br />
Consider Madeline’s growing understanding of this apparently corrosive relationship. We have found that they are<br />
both lovers and enemies but Madeline is about to make another leap of awareness that turns their initial roles<br />
completely on their heads.<br />
From Madeline’s rap:<br />
Madeline Sick to my heart - I must impart - this revelation - that puts a permanent stain on my generation.<br />
The questions I’m so afraid I hold the answer – in the truth of night daddy I believe I am your cancer. (p.89)<br />
This is a shocking admission of guilt, not just personal but generational. Madeline has come a long way in a short time.<br />
The prospect of losing the father she ‘hates’ is having a profound effect on her.<br />
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