Everything Happens for the Best

The play This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, and This Girl Does Nothing by Finnegan Kruckemeyer, is a story about three sisters who live with their dad. The three sisters are Albienne, Carmen and Beatrix, and each have a different idea/identity. The themes of this play are find your own way for your future, find yourself and family.

When the sisters get lost, they have to find their own way for the future and find themselves. After their dad abandoned them, Carmen, who was the one who did nothing and stayed in that place where their dad left them, was friends with the animals. It shows that Carmen doesn't want to go forward or backward. The second sister, Beatrix, went to the west where her dad left and where the sun set to find her dad. This shows she doesn't want to lose the things she has so she decides to go backward and find her dad. And the third sister Albienne goes to the east and she becomes a soldier and a woman who helps people around that area. This shows she doesn't want to go forward and she wants to try new things.

I think one theme is to find yourself. For example, Albienne finds help peoples and she was a soldier - this shows she finds herself and she gets to be what she wants. Beatrix finds herself when she decides that she doesn't want to lose her family so she goes back to her dad. Carmen finds herself not wanting to go forward or backward and waiting where she was.

In the play This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, and This Girl Does Nothing, the father left them in the woods because their mom died and their father got a new girlfriend. If the mother hadn't died this whole thing wouldn't have happened. But even though their dad left them and this whole thing happens it’s for the good and the good thing is that all the sisters learn what life means and they find themselves. Carmen finds herself living with animals in the same spot where her dad left them. Beatrix finds herself going to the west where the sun sets. Albienne finds herself being a soldier and protecting villages. At the end, they came back and met together.

In the play This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, and This Girl Does Nothing, after the dad left them they were worried how they are going to live and where they are going to go. This shows they know it’s complicated to live without family. And they were missing each other. One of my themes is about family and the three sisters lost their mom, their dad, and they miss each other. This shows family is the most important thing in the animals and humans life.

In conclusion, the idea of this play is self-exploration. Another idea of this play is family. My opinion is that it’s good to let kids experience what life means and to find themselves. Everything happens for the best. Family is the main key to life.

Lead photo credit: This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, and This Girl Does Nothing at ArtsWest. Photo by John McLellan.

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This review was written as part of an Arts Criticism workshop at Cascade Middle School in Mrs. Boucher's Advanced English Language Learners class, taught by Press Corps teaching artist Brian Dang.