The Struggle of Siblings: A Dramatic Interpretation

Staging of a scene from “The Evolution of My Brother”

I think it would be interesting to recreate and watch the scene in “The Evolution of My Brother” where Jenny gets frustrated with her brother and forces him to leave her room (pg.158-160). I think this scene is very interesting and adds to the description of the complicated relationship between an older and younger sibling that this story is building. In this scene after Jenny releases her anger at her brother, she immediately regrets it and hates herself for being so mean to him. I think it is really important to try and capture the swing of emotions that Jenny goes through in this scene.

            If I were to arrange a stage to put this scene on, I would want the view of Jenny’s bedroom to be facing the audience, because that is where the story’s point of view is from. The wall with the door to Jenny’s room would be across the room from the audience, but at an angle, so that the audience is seeing the wall at a 45º angle. Jenny’s desk and shelves above it would be on the wall adjacent to the wall with the door. Since the walls are perpendicular to each other, but angled, the audience can clearly see what is happening on each of them. On Jenny’s desk would be her computer with a wooden chair tucked into the desk. Against the wall containing the door would be Jenny’s tv.

            At the beginning of the scene, Jenny’ brother would wander into her room holding his PlayStation while she was sitting on the floor next to her desk looking through VCR tapes. A box of VCR’s would be sitting on her desk. When her brother asked to set up his PlayStation she would grab a VCR out of the box and throw it at him. After dodging it he would sit on the floor and begin trying to connect his PlaySation to the tv as Jenny yells at him about being in her room. While still messing with the PlayStation he would calmly say his line, “So what? I still get to play in here cause Mom said,” without turning around. After Jenny replies, her brother wouldn’t react at all and she would stand up and roughly grab his ankles. As she drags him out the door, he would grab the carpet in order to stay in her room, but end up just ripping pieces of it out as Jenny continues dragging him through her open door. After slamming the door as her brother turns around and tries to reach back into her room, Jenny would lock the door and walk over to her desk to drop back into her spot on the floor, continuing to look through VCRs. When Jenny looks up and notices her brother’s fingers wiggling under the door she would put the VCR in her hand onto the floor and stand up to walk over to her door, snatch one of her slippers off the floor next to her tv and start smacking her brothers fingers. She would then look up and grab the glass of water off her desk to pour it on his fingers. When she gives up, she would turn around and slowly sit on the floor with her back against the door. She would have the empty glass in one hand and the slipper in the other. The audience would then hear a series of distant thumps (her mom walking up the stairs) and then a pause before she starts yelling through the door. When her mother tries to get her to apologize, she would drop the glass of water on the floor and start smacking her own fingers, much harder than she was smacking her brother’s. She would have a look of pure hatred on her face as she attacked herself for what she did to her brother. After her mom yells through the door, “You can kill yourself if you want, but first you have to say sorry to your brother,” she would reach up and aggressively knock the dictionary off her shelf and across the room. She would then start silently sobbing while still sitting against the door, her knees hugged to her chest, while there is a thump on her door and then her mom and brother yelling at her through it.