Although there is a passing mention of co-workers who are Latino, this production and the script focuses on poor white workers and yet veers off again from the sudden wealth of a porn maker to violent confrontations with an indignant boyfriend of one of the porn stars, hallucinations of a drugged out worker and the sudden physical rehabilitation of all the characters so the two men can go to Iraq. And of course, we get to know what happens in Iraq to Ryan and Keith and it isn't good.
In a way, the quick recovery of Ryan from his work-related injury seems a betrayal to Schlosser's article. Schlosser makes it clear that the physical outlook for these people is bleak. Birnbaum, like a miracle of TV, quickly glosses over this so he can move the action to Iraq and get an anti-war message in. And that's not even the ending there. Tacked on is a scene in a heavenly factory where cows are given back life, literally stitched together and our cast are all back together to see those cows given life.
Birnbaum's play is much like stitching a dead cow together after it has been butchered. The result isn't one cohesive, living, breathing piece, but a horrific bloody mess that has good edible parts that we're not allowed to stew and chew on intellectually because we're distracted by the crazy stitch work that only barely holds this thing together.
Article comments
1 - Mickey Birnbaum
Nothing I love more than a strong response to my work. Obviously, I don't agree with you, but a good tirade sure beats someone falling asleep in their seat. I'll come visit your site again when I'm not in the firing line! Nice work!
Best,
Mickey Birnbaum