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Celebrating Tony Kushner

 "Caroline, or Change" is a show about hatred, power, fury, and despair. It's about two people looking at each other across a wide gulf; it captures moments of mutual incomprehension. It is one writer's series of childhood memories, but it feels timeless and universal.


In an extraordinary moment, the protagonist waits for the bus, after work. Her white employer has taken many chances to shit all over her throughout the day; the power imbalance is such that the employer doesn't even realize when she is being a tool. ("Caroline, you keep my child's spare change whenever he leaves it in his dirty pants. This will teach him a lesson. Really, YOU will be helping ME!")

Caroline sits in her anger, while the moon (yes, the moon) tries to make a point. Here is what the moon says:

Moon change...
Moon change...
Glowing bright.
Light up the night.
Make your dress of spotless white
Turn to purple, turn to gleam...
Cool and dry--
Free and high--
Miles free from basement steam.
Change come fast--
And change come slow.
But change come....
Caroline Thibodeaux....

The moon is just asking: "What might it take to convince you to begin living your life?"

Caroline can't help but hear, but she chooses to make her complaints louder: "Moon gone change and change again....before that damn bus....take me home?"

Nothing is resolved; Kushner, a fan of "Company," is writing his own version of "Being Alive." Caroline says, "Nothing ever changes underground....in Louisiana...." It's a statement, and also a prayer; the subtext seems to be, "Please, God: Prove me wrong."

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