A Permanent Image

by Samuel D. Hunter

Siblings Bo and Ally are back in thier childhood home in Idaho for the funeral of their father. Their mother Carol has painted the whole house white and is suspected to have been drinking since their father's death. What Ally and Bo come to find out is that their mother has a method to her madness as she pulls out some home videos of their father just before he died. Called a fusion between realism and the absurd A Permanent Image is a tense exploration of the distance families put betwe

Genres: Plays

86 pages, Paperback

Published April 15, 2016

Reviews

[Doug]

This seems like a low rent, small cast version of 'August: Osage County' (both begin with the suicide of the patriarch, and play out various family secrets in a combination of hysterics and comedy), crossed with ''Night, Mother' (family trying to talk a different family member out of another suicide). Had it not been for some animal cruelty (the shooting of a dog with a BB gun) and the repeated use of the word 'retard' (however germane to the characters), I'd be tempted to give this 5 stars, as I'm sure it plays very well. And Margo Martindale, who shined in the film version of Osage, would make a tremendous Carol. :-)

[CaralineCasey]

I think that this would be a very dynamic play to watch in person. It also offers lots of juicy scene work and monologues for theatre students. My one critique is that there might be too much drama (whaaaat?!). I did enjoy how it jumped into the conflict immediately, however I think that since the characters were fighting so much throughout the entire play, it made the climax in the BIG FIGHT less impactful. On the other hand, this constant state of tension did make the one peaceful moment at the end of the play more goosebump-worthy.

[Abigail]

Ok I’m starting to understand SDH a little more. He doesn’t use his characters as mouthpieces to preach his perspective… they actually are just messy and a little crazy and living in that…

I think I’m into it - dialogue as always is ridiculously good

Wouldn’t choose to use material from this in a class setting I don’t think

OH!! The use of the television was crystal clear in this play (yes there was another tv as a character in the narrative)

[Josh Rosenzweig]

I really enjoyed the moments of humor through these characters’ existential sufferings, but nothing felt as revolutionary as maybe I felt like it could have.

[Miquon]

I wholeheartedly agreed with the other reviewers even before seeing their reviews: this is a wonderfully written, compassionate, yet somehow 'modern' take on the same themes riled up in "August: Osage County."

It's as though "August" is the "Titus Andronicus" to "Permanent"'s "Hamlet."

Same themes, wholly different approaches.

[Matthew Akers]

Solid play. Love Samuel D. Hunter's work. A good domestic drama, easy to produce, small cast. I agree with the other reviewer, it is s great alternative to August: Osage County.

[Artemi Marketou]

Read for the ZEST reading panel.