The PlayFinder™

THE STORY: Lawrence and Joanna, a brother and sister in their mid-twenties, have cut themselves off from the world “outside,” living in a cluttered playroom which they share with two imaginary companions, “Edna” and “Claypone.” Surrounded by toys, including a brightly colored miniature Ferris wheel, they have created an atmosphere of almost suffocating intimacy and remove, where play becomes the business of life and reality an alien force to be kept at bay. But life intrudes all the same, and their fantasies have betrayed them into Joanna’s pregnancy. Yet even this cruel irony can only be dealt with in almost antic, unreal terms, as though it too were but a facet of the dream world that Lawrence and Joanna have constructed about themselves. They continue to play and talk idly of future plans until the birth pangs begin and their house of illusion comes crashing down. But still Lawrence cannot leave, cannot face the world beyond their door. Instead he sends “Edna” for the doctor, and as Joanna’s life ebbs away he holds her hand and talks of the new toy that he has made for her and hidden away in their Surprise Box of secret treasures.