| I think we're saying the same thing: Act 1 fills in a lot of details about the story of the play, which is contained in Act 2. And they are nice details, and they enrich what happens later... but they don't carry much dramatic weight, and they aren't necessary to the core story of the show, which is entirely in Act 2. And for me, Act 1 actually dilutes the second act, because the primary dramatic question of Act 2 - whether Little Edie will escape her mother - has already played out and been answered in the first act; she won't. So we're watching a repeat of the story without any additional psychological insight or complexity. |
