''Anatomy of Gray'' is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

by Jim Leonard Jr. set in the 1880s. The play frequently breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

when the characters directly narrate the events in the story to the audience.

Plot synopsis

The play starts with a prologue, in which June Muldoon explains that the town of Gray,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

is a very boring place. She says that the play will chronicle her story, and the first chapter is started.
, Anatomy of Gray Sample Text. The play then shifts to the

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

service of Adam Muldoon, June's late father and dedicated town farmer. After feeling immense grief at her father's loss, and seeing her mother's endless sorrow, June writes a letter to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in which she wishes for her town to receive a doctor, so that "nobody will ever die again." Later, a massive storm, followed by a tornado, causes a man in a

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

to crash near the town. Rescued by June and the townspeople, he is revealed to be a doctor named Galen P. Gray, a fact which June is immensely excited by. The townspeople, now with a relatively qualified doctor, start seeing him for all of their ailments. Despite Gray's ironic aversion to blood, he is quite helpful to the townspeople. Many of the largely uneducated citizens of Gray both look up to and misunderstand the doctor, creating many humorous situations. The doctor issues several diagnoses of their ailments and the townspeople are astounded by the doctor's intellect. June develops a crush on Gray and takes it upon herself to be his personal assistant. In the meantime, Gray falls in love with Rebekah Muldoon, June's mother, who is revealed to be pregnant with her late husband's daughter. Rebekah begs Gray for an

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, but he refuses, liking her and her child too much to be able to bring himself to do it. Gray begins to notice strange marks on certain townspeople, and soon those who are "marked" start becoming ill and even dying. Blaming the doctor for the appearance of the plague, Pastor Wingfield and a mob of other citizens attempt to chase Gray out of the town, but are stopped by June and the fact that the Pastor is suffering severely from

kidney stones Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...

. Under the doctor's instruction, June manages to operate on the Pastor and save his life, causing the townspeople to soften up to the doctor. Meanwhile, Rebekah gives birth to her baby, who is not marked like Rebekah. The sickness is getting worse, and more and more people are becoming afflicted every day. In a move to save those who they can, the townspeople and the doctor send June and her little sister, as well as Homer, a farm boy who has had a crush on June, in a raft across the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

to the outside world. As the few who are not "marked" float away on the raft, the doctor comes to the conclusion that the illness is likely caused by contaminated water, remarking that he always boils his water, June mimics him in all aspects including his water-boiling habits, and Homer doesn't drink water (preferring

soda pop A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweet ...

, a running gag in the play). The play ends at its beginning with June explaining that she wrote down her history to tell to her little sister once she was old enough to understand it, and the opening lines are recited as the play is finished

References

External links

Official website of Samuel French Play PublishingReview of the 2008 Oklahoma University production at OUDaily.comAnatomy of Gray Sample Text
{Dead link, date=September 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes American plays Plays set in Indiana