Richard Bausch - "1-900"

 Song suggestions for "1-900": Milow - You and Me (In My Pocket) (John)
Caro Emerald - Back It Up (Marilyn/Sharon)

Well, this was a fun little piece we have here. Unlike "Emergency" that came before, this dark humor piece is far more-accessible to a more casual reader. The piece is fairly straight forward, a phone sex conversation that the client refuses to allow to get to the actual phone sex.

Then, what makes this piece worth reading? There is some brilliant use of language in the piece that brings out the character. One of my favorite lines was the quote, "My wife and money, that was like a land-war-in-Asia kind of thing" (Bausch 56). Further down the page, John explains the quote as a reference to the Vietnam War. It also proves John's interest in history. Sure, he explains to Marilyn/Sharon that he likes history, but the reader could already tell that by the reference.

Another brilliant use of language comes on page 59. The two characters are discussing the problems between John and his wife Kate when Marilyn/Sharon asks, "And what was her problem with you?" Up to this point, Marilyn/Sharon has been extremely reluctant to really have the conversation John has been begging for. She has barely supported the conversation, and this is the second question that she asks that actually supports the conversation between them. It seems like John is actually going to have his conversation until he immediately answers that question with, "Oh, lots of things. Lots that things that it isn't anybody's business to know." Here John is being evasive.

Immediately, such evasiveness brings me to wonder two things. First, I wonder why he doesn't realize that "it isn't anybody's business to know" is what the character of Marilyn/Sharon has been saying the entire time. It is not John's business to know if she's been to college or if she's seeing anybody. She's not paid to talk about such things, and she's uncomfortable telling them to a complete stranger. Secondly, it makes me wonder what he's hiding. John comes across throughout the rest of the play as an extremely open character, possibly even embarrassingly open, so this act of secrecy gains even more prominence when compared with the rest of the piece. It makes one wonder what it is that makes even a guy that tells everything to a phone sex operator cannot tell.