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Love on the B-Line I believe was an adorable story. I really enjoyed reading it. In my perspective this play came to life with the script descriptions. It gave a sense of how the characters felt towards each other and also how they felt in general with the situation that was going on. The dialogue of this play I believe was perfect. The way they made the male character speak in short sentences made the character very much stand out as if he was questioning everything the female character was saying along with showing that he slightly did not care. The way the female character had a lot of dialogue gave a strong sense of the femaleness vibe, but also gave a sense of love, since it is said that women fall in love faster. In my point of view the most important part of this play was that this female felt as if she was in a cage before she met the male character and losing him would cause her to feel like that once more. The author was also able to thigh this together with the explanation of how she hadn’t smoked for three months since she met him. And at that moment when she smoked it was as if she was returning back to that place where she did not want to return. The sense that the male character started that the train was only heading one way made it seem as if he was not getting enough from her. Yet when she stated this story to him he understood what was going on. I believe this was the most important part of the play because it even states it at the end of the play. The male character wants to know about when the female character got caught smoking in school. As props the bench was also of great help because the female tried to symbolizes it as the males bed trying to cause conform to what the problem was stated of being. Scene description, props, dialogue, along with setting made this play come to life which is very important.
ReplyDelete-Alicia Lucio
Adam Kraar’s use of grammar and actions in “Love on the B-Line” speaks volumes and adds so much to the story. I really like how the sentences are short it, it gives what Marie and Robbie are saying a very kind tone, unless stated otherwise. I think it is very out of the ordinary to choose a dirty subway as the setting of a cute love story, but somehow Kraar doesn’t make it seem weird due to the fact that the couple has a lot memories there which just adds to how much Marie and Robbie deeply care about each other. For Adam Kraar’s play, in my opinion, the most things said weren’t even said, the actions that Kraar use really adds depth and importance of Marie and Robbie’s relationship with one another. All in all this was a really cute hetero story about two people who are deeply in love, Marie comes from a broken background and Kraar uses this to show how much Marie needs Robbie in her life, because without Robbie she will revert back to her self destructive “cage” and smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. I’ve also noted that Kraar uses everything that you would find in a Subway as something in his play, like the train, the rancid smell, the bench, He uses these things to kind of give a very detailed description as to the setting of his play. -Lowen Sauceda
ReplyDeleteAdam Kraar sets up a slight rollercoaster of a romance in Love on the B-Line. I was let down with this play because I felt the characters had something to offer but didn’t come through with the most dramatic moment of their lives. I felt that Kraar could have taken these characters further. He sets up the action and struggle, he even sets up the dialogue, but in the end the play ends exactly where it started. I was confused by this and am more than willing to admit that I must not have a deeper view of this situation in order to grasp its hidden meaning, if there is one. I want to understand its hidden context but I am not sure. Maybe I’m in the dark on this one because of my unfamiliarity of trains. I will not say I hate it because this would mean that it drew out some type of an emotional reaction (it didn’t) and I can’t say that I loved it because it fell short of the Breakfast at Tiffany’s movement I think Kraar was trying to create. The clear and immediate conflict seems to rest in the fact that the protagonist is Rob and is trying to get Marie stay the night with him. The antagonistic mass in the play is set on by Marie’s unwillingness to “live in a cage” or commit. In the end I wish I could have attached to one of the characters or felt the movement in either wanting them to become closer or pull apart as a couple, but I don’t.
ReplyDelete~Brenda Gomez
I felt like “Love on the B=Line” started off slow and then jumped all over the place. There was so much symbolism and confusing references I got a little lost at times. I didn’t really like this piece, it was hard to follow. I understand it was a love story overall, but the only part that made sense to me was the center/middle of the story around the part where they break up and then get back together right away. I don’t understand why Marie started smoking all of a sudden, I get her exaggeration with putting multiple cigarettes in her mouth and nose but if she hadn’t touched them in months why would she even have some on her person at all? That seemed kind of sketchy to me. The part where they are discussing the cat being her excuse for not staying the night with him also was odd to me. At first it was believable because I have a dog and I have had to miss out or leave certain occasions to go home and tend to him. It wasn’t until Robbie called Marie out on it that I started to catch on to the fact that it was bullshit and there was another reason she wouldn’t stay the night with Robbie. But even at that, I don’t think the author ever REALLY stated the true reason. It got kind of left at maybe he wasn’t good enough or her father just didn’t approve. I also felt at times that both were a little off… the way Marie put Robbie’s head on her shoulder and just started singing and imagining they were in his room was weird to me. The part where he actually falls asleep and wakes up thinking he was with his mom had to have a deeper meaning but it just gave the story a weird vibe in my opinion, and then when Marie just went along with it I found that interesting as well. I feel like there were a lot of little hints hidden in the story but I don’t know what they are intended to do. For example, the ending was a complete curve ball, what significance does the story of her smoking in school hold? Furthermore, I couldn’t figure out what Marie meant with her whole monologue about being locked in a cage on Lorimer Street… was it like a house for addicts or homeless people or what?
ReplyDelete-Alfredo Montemayor
I enjoyed how Robbie was a male character created to be somewhat emotionally open and a bit needy and Marie afraid of being dependent. Almost as if it is reflecting more of the turned-table of how some women fear being locked up in a relationship with the world ahead of them. It was hard to distinguish the possible tone and actions with very few actions until the dialogue began to build up and she was trying to avoid being reeled into his "I love you" and begging to stay the night. I could see how Marie tries to hide her emotions by trying to gain some sort of power over him by being constant that she doesn't want to stay with him, knows Robbie is tired and convincing him that she still wants him on the train with her. It wasn't till he was falling asleep that she was able to say she loved him which shows how she was only able to in that moment where he wasn't fully aware. The beginning was very irritating to read because you have a guy pushing for her to say and she tries to distract him by getting lost in his looks or by being physically distracting by kissing his neck and with Marie's full explosion of word vomit it allowed us to get an insight as to why the conflict began or why it seems to have always happened. I do feel the play could have had more to offer but like that the end has one guessing as to whether she stayed or he still went with her.
ReplyDeleteLisa Marie Serna
Love on the B-Line by Adam Kraar was an enjoyable piece, with a cute romance between the two main characters. Little is told to us about their personal background. Marie, 28 year old Brooklyn girl, loves Robbie’s poem of her in which he refers to her as the “brightest star” in Brooklyn. Being the famous live-show city it is, it would make sense that Marie aspires to be a star on the shows. On to Robbie, he’s originally from Virginia, coming from a different lifestyle than Marie’s family. He believes her father disapproves of him. I’ve been in a similar situation in a previous relationship, so this was relatable to me. It’s a small piece of the story, but it is Robbie’s main point in their argument; in his eyes, the only thing stopping Marie from staying over is her father’s opinion.
ReplyDeleteSomething particular I noticed was the “Beat”s in the play. This goes back to what we are practicing this weekend in our writing; adding sounds to our plays, and have them symbolize or incorporate something. In this play, there were only three instances where the beat was used. Marie was speaking, or had finished speaking, at every instance of the beat, and it was always something positive to say towards Robbie whenever the beat was placed. The way I took this, was as a heartbeat from Robbie. The mood during these beats was a feeling of strong passion or affection, while these beats could possibly be Robbie’s loud heartbeats in response to Marie’s dialogue. Though this is a short play, Adam Kraar did an excellent job in formatting everything together. We have romance, anger, compassion, self-pity, dependency, and many more things that the characters are feeling.
-Jesus Pena
Love on the B-Line was not your typical love story. The characters were both kind of odd and expressed their love in uncommon ways. I didn’t like the dialogue at all, and the play really wouldnt make much sense unless the characters were following the instructions in the stage directions. The characters honestly don’t even make that much sense, and in a way I realize why they are together. They’re both weird, and truth be told, you do see a lot of weird couples on the subway. The play itself had a lot of symbolism, such as Robbie comparing their love to a train only going one way. He was basically stating that he isn’t getting what he wants from her because she is so closed off, but at the same time he is probably asking too much of her. Marie even states that they have only been together for 5 months and he keeps on pressuring her to spend the night. No wonder she keeps making excuses on why she can’t stay! The only part of this play I probably enjoyed was when she stuffed all the cigarettes up her mouth and nose, it reminded me of The Fault in our Stars when Augustus uses the cigarettes as a “metaphor.” It’s like she had them all that time to remind her not to lose herself again. I guess I liked the history of the characters more than the situation they were going through in the present. I would enjoy seeing this play performed if it followed all the stage directions, otherwise it wouldn’t really make much sense to the audience.
ReplyDelete-Alyssa Ramos
This play Love on the B-Line by Adam Kraar seemed like some sort of fantasy relationship. The guy, Robbie wants there to be more with Marie who he rides with everyday but things seem to be taking time for them. Marie likes that things are going as they are and Robbie as it is read has met the father and brothers of Marie. He thinks they don't like him with the looks he's given. He tries to do alot for her and be there for her but feels it isn't enough for her. She acts like she doesn't want more, and she is comfortable where they are at. Robbie keeps pushing on that he wants her to stay over as if she never has. I think they always just see each other at the train so in a way I would see why he gets upset and frustrated that she does not want to stay over because her cat has to be fed. They are obviously crazy about each other but patience is hard between the two. She cares about him but still has other priorities and he wants himself to be the top priority and she hasn't fully satisfied him. It is an interesting piece since they are together but have not been together that long. They are on a thin line that could break or keep holding on to their relationship. It would be cool to see what happens and where things will lead but it makes the short piece leaving the audience in wonder.
ReplyDelete-Adelisa Fuentes
This story was like the previous one and that is very relatable… I am sure at one point in someone’s life they will have a conversation in regards to this topic with their significant other. I feel like Marie is scared to go to Robbie’s place because she is scared of falling in love and she’s trying to avoid the aftermath of a terrible break up where she’d have to pick herself up again and Robbie wants to know that Marie cares about him and to prove that she has to go to his house. It also appears that Marie has a past that she can not get over and she metaphorically uses being trapped in a cage and she’s a bird and when she met Robbie all that changed but something appears to be holding her back but she still a little confused, hence her trying to avoid stepping into a new part of her relationship with Robbie. And Robbie seems like a nice guy, I mean if he did care about Marie’s decision of waiting he should accept it and wait until she is ready to take the next step which to go to his house and get into a more intimate level.
ReplyDeleteI really liked and could relate to Marie’s personality because in a sense she is sort of like me because I try to avoid situations I feel awkward at all cause or try to cover it with something and in her case telling Robbie she has to feed her cat because otherwise the cat will not eat if her father feeds it so she is obligated to do so.
-priscilla pena
Adam Kraar’s “Love on The B-Line ” was a great read. I like the symbolism of different types of love. They both love seeing each other but she’s insecure about losing the rush they have between them both. I also feel like she babies him by coddling him when he’s sad and upset about her not staying over. And she also uses, “shhhhss” this is what you do to babies when they are fusing. And they’re at an age where maybe they would like to start falling in love and making a family, but you can tell that she’s done this before and her intentions to be roped in by marriage or love. It seems she’s in love with the thrill more than Robbie. I assume that’s the reason the title is called Love on the B-Line, the thrill of the train station. She loves danger and excitement. She also notes that he wrote her a poem comparing her love to the train, and she shines light on that topic. It is clear she loves only herself and her life, more than she loves Robbie. This affair is also in private, so she doesn’t feel proud of him either to show him off around. The love has only been expressed in the train. She also teases him about the cigarettes and seems pretty immature to be honest. The slapping also seemed excessive but he seems to sort of allow it, or she doesn’t comprehend anything to be serious of the relationship they have. Over all it was a great read,.
ReplyDelete-Christopher capello
I really liked this ten-playwright. It is very relatable, in a sense where we see a typical young couple, although they aren’t actually that young. But one would think that at 28 one would have someone or at least a home. I think that Adam Kraar, creator of “ Love on the B-line,” did an excellent job, in character development and the way the words flow with the actions to create the perfect scene that Kraar portrayed. Going back to the title, I think that the “B” could represent, beautiful- in the way love has lots of ups and down but it is continuous, or bitch- because love is sometimes evil and if I think of a line I think of never ending and I also think of a start and an end, or bench- due to the fact that they live waiting for trains thinking of being together I think that is where they love the most, or broken- in way that it describes how both Robbie and Marie are distant, not complete. I think she is scared from being hurt from her past with this other dude who seemed nice, but was very bad influence due to the darkness of her description of the “Lorimer Street”. She might have a fear of her father not accepting her from a boyfriend situation again? Also in addition to this, I think that the [Beat] represents a characters change of voice, maybe a change of tone, in a way of realization. I feel like sitting down and standing up in the play means a lot. Those actions bring out the importance of their lines or how something important is coming up. I really liked how Kraar uses the three dots to make us think of how the sentence would finish, yet realize how it would be a different line when the other character reads the following line. In addition to this I think that this playwright is both calm and reveling. I liked it over all!
ReplyDelete-Maria J. Salinas
I don't know what it is about love crap the never interest me in any sort of writing. I understood thought what was going on, the type of love that is serious and taking the next step but she knows she is not ready. It's the type of thing that happens with couples that are completely opposite but also the same in a sense. She feels that if they take a new step her entire freedom will be lost in a way and isn't ready to deal with that. I liked the idea of how she talks about living in a cage, that sort of stuff about adversities always gets me because that's the main thing people should see and understand. It's like she's telling him why she can't stay and even thought he is very persistent eventually he understood what she was telling him. She wasn't exactly avoiding staying over but she has bigger things to do. I really did enjoy though the symbolism of the train. It only goes one way. Which is pretty true. You have to live for yourself and not turn back around or anything just do what you got to do and that's what she's doing. She is keeping her foot down and that's a great thing. Other than that this play was pretty boring but then again I am a main ready of tragedy and messed up minds.
ReplyDelete-Victoria Benavidez
Love on the B-Line by Adam Kraar started off rather slow, it seemed to me that it was possible Marie might have been a bit intoxicated, I only say this because of the simple actions that took place like with her yelling “Mars!” and with her kissing Robbie’s neck at the beginning of the play. Plus he did mention that it was 2 in the morning, which kind of makes the author thing what they could have been doing up until then in Brooklyn at the age of 28. Anyways, I felt as if Marie was trying to prove a point to Robbie when she decided to put all those cigarettes in her mouth, she knew he hated it but she decided to light it anyway knowing it would get to him and it did. After pouring her heart out and making life references to living in a cage until she met him is when he finally realized it was ok she not come over. I wasn’t able to depict whether that ok was because he was tired of hearing her rant or because he came to realize that it wasn’t really important anymore. I liked this play and thought it was cute, I feel as if Marie just wasn’t ready to go over to Robbie’s place, she wasn’t as in to staying with him like how Robbie was to staying with her. I’m not really sure why Robbie would say “Mom” when he fell asleep considering his mom was never mention throughout the play. But over all I liked this play and thought it was cute and a bit confusing.
ReplyDelete-Natasha Villarreal
I enjoyed reading this ten minute play. Love on the B-Line was a cute, roller coaster of emotion. I like the way Adam Kraar developed the characters in the story and their backstories. I think it was interesting how the male character was the dependent/needy one. I've seen too many stereotypes where the girl has those traits in a story. There were also a lot of confusing aspects to this play that I still don't quite understand. Such as the title; does the B-Line reference the trains or something? That's all I could think of. Another thing that confused me was when Robbie falls asleep. Why does he say "mom?" Up until then the only parent ever mentioned was Marie's father. I also was unsure as to why Marie tells Robbie that she doesn't want to live in a cage again. It is clear that she wasn't ready to stay the night with him, but the whole cage metaphor was off. Overall, I really enjoyed the story.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Bluhm
RR #15
ReplyDeleteLove on the B-line was pretty interesting, I understand whats going on in the play, it seems as if its her boyfriend and he just wants her to stay the night with him. I don’t take it as he just wants to sleep with her, I feel like his dream is just to have his girl by his side and going to sleep feeling comfortably. What I don’t understand is why she wont stay, and her reason is because she needs to feed her cat and its not something as where someone else (like her father) can feed her cat. While reading this, I felt the cat is an excuse, like there is something else that is keeping her from staying with him. There has to be lots of different reasons why, maybe it is true – maybe her dad doesn’t like his job or maybe she has someone else and she needs to cover up. I was a little confused as to what the image of the “cat” can be hiding. It seems like theyre about to break up and she smokes when he doesn’t like it, she slaps him and they just argue to a point where I myself know the feeling where you rage to say something and then it’s said out loud. So yes I can just imagine seeing this being re-enacted because she just explodes and lets him know she doesn’t want to be in a cage because she will feel trapped again. Which is an understandable situation for women who have ever experienced this – feeling like you do so much for your partner that you forget about yourself for a while there. The way it ends reminds me of them re connecting again. I enjoyed the piece.
-arianna tabares
Love on the B-Line by Adam Kraar wasn't my favorite ten minute play. His characters are both in their late 20’s, nearly thirty and come across as teenagers. I thought their affection towards each other was sweet, but overall I couldn’t connect with these characters, more specifically, I couldn't connect with Marie. Adam Kraar writes about a 28 year old woman who lives with her father and struggles to be up front with her boyfriend. I understand they have only been dating for five months and four days but what I don’t understand is why she had to be so difficult when asked why she couldn’t stay the night with Robbie. Aside from wanting his girlfriend to spend the night, I felt that throughout the whole play Robbie was also wanting a simple explanation for why Marie couldn’t spend the night. When he brought it up for the fourth time, I didn’t like how she danced around his question using her cat as an excuse. Then further down, when he told her he had enough, she responded by acting like a child and threw a fit. Putting cigarettes anywhere she could and going up to Robbie and lighting them just to anger him was all unnecessary and odd behavior for a 28 year old grown woman. I’m also not sure if Kraar set it up to where the audience is supposed to catch a lie but I found it strange for someone who claims to have quit smoking months ago still carries around a pack of cigarettes but I just took that as another sign of immaturity. Overall It was a tedious read for me and I found myself feeling sorry for Robbie.
ReplyDelete-Brittany Garcia
Love on the B-line started off differently than the other plays we have been reading in the sense that it wasn’t confusing, the play felt like it was starting with me as oppose as to just having me catch up on something. The dialogue was so engaging and felt so real, none of it seemed corny or like the author was trying to hard to push a love story. From my own past I can see how being in a relationship where feelings were being unreciprocated can cause the type of emotions that Robbie was feeling. The author expressed those emotions through Robbie, not only accurately but also in a way that moves the play forward and in very engaging directions that would keep the audience’s attention.
ReplyDeleteWhen I begin to write my play I will incorporate some emotions from my past so that I can make a connection with my viewers beyond just making something up and hoping that it resonates. Real emotions and experience on paper is noticeable by how raw it is, when people read it they can tell what is being faked and what is real. All of this will add to the way my audience reacts to my play. If I fail to make the type of strong emotional connection that I was striving for then it will probably be because of some other aspect as oppose to me simply making something up.
The twist at the end, in which the reason for her not wanting Robbie to come over helped to decriminalize Marie while adding more character. Up until now we only see one side of Marie, and not only do we get a more in depth look into her life but we see how well this relationship is by having Robbie be so understanding. No room is wasted in this short play but at the same time it isn’t rushed. I would also capitalize on the plot devices in my play so that I can have a big story in a small package.
-Alvaro Pulido