Accounts
By: Michael Wilcox
Contributors: Wilcox, Michael
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2013
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Description: 'Accounts' touches on the themes of homosexuality, money, and survival. As teenage brothers Andy and Donald Mawson cope with the death of their father, learning how to run a farm with their widowed mother, Mary, the play primarily concerns the family's processes of discovery - both in being independent land owners for the first time, and in terms of the brothers' development during adolescence. A bildungsroman, of sorts, 'Accounts' details the daily routine of the family within their first year on the farm, and specifically demonstrates how Andy and Donald must mature quickly to take responsibility for its financial performance. With this mental maturity comes bodily maturity, as well; the audience becomes privy to Andy and Donald's awakening sexuality, and in the case of Donald, emerging homosexuality. As a result, 'Accounts' is a 'coming out' experience in the Scottish countryside. It premiered at Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre in May 1981.
Notes: Previously issued in print: in Plays one. London: Methuen Drama, 1997.