Overtones by Alice Gerstenberg

Yes, the “inner selves” hear one another and sometimes even see each other.  But they do not see each other every single time one or the other speaks.  Sometimes the “inner selves” will deliver a line directly towards the other one.  I feel like they only heard each other when they wanted the other to hear them. 

Through out the script Maggie will deliver lines to Hetty, typically when she does not believe something that Harriet has said, almost as if she is calling her bluff.  Other times their lines are directed to the opposite “outer selves” to represent the truth that Margaret or Harriet would like to say but due to social restrictions they cannot truly express themselves.  Majority of the lines between Hetty and Maggie are things that the "outer selves" want to say to one another but aren’t quite socially expectable, I have never read a play like this before and I thought the dialogue was amazing. 

Defending it/proving it- page 211, Harriet: I’m afraid Charles paid an extravagant price.  Maggie: [To Hetty] I don’t believe it.  This quote is direct proof of Margaret not believing something that Harriet has said to her, yet, instead of calling her out on it they continue on polite as can be.

Another one, page 213, Hetty doubts the sincerity of Margaret’s statements, Margaret: Not for long…. Who gave him many orders?  Hetty: [To Maggie] Are you telling the truth or are you lying?

Unanswerable- How would you deal with interruptions from the “inner selves” during the conversation between Margaret and Harriet?  Do they just continue miming eating or drinking their tea?  But that still leaves you wondering why they would just stop in the middle of their sentence. 

Margaret: [To Harriet] I used to drink very sweet coffee in Turkey and ever since I’ve-

Hetty: I don’t believe you were ever in Turkey.

Can the “inner selves” actually see each other?  Sometimes yes and sometimes no.   Every now and then they will answer to each other’s statements, but aren’t they are just voices and thoughts of the actual characters? The question is can Margaret and Harriet see the "inner selves" of each other, not physically, but the same way we today can tell when people are lying or trying to “one-up” us or when you can see the “crazy” in a person’s eyes.

The “inner selves” do not seem to actually see one another until the very end when they are screaming at each other.  But, do they actually see one another? They aren’t affected by anything the other is even saying.  It seems that they are screaming at one another not too one another.

In the beginning Harriet talks with Hetty but when Margaret comes into the room it is as if she isn’t there.  It is like a voice in the back of your head.  Once Margaret and Harriet are having their own conversation Harriet never actually looks back at Hetty while she tries to put her two-cents in throughout the dialogue, same with Margaret and Maggie.  

As an audience member watching this show, it may get a little confusing but it helps that Margaret and Harriet stayed seated and never look away from one another no matter what the “inner selves” are reveling about themselves and how miserable their lives truly are.  So I do not think the audience would have too much trouble following the dialogue.

John Michael Moore