Summary
Scene 1
The scene opens at an extravagant Gold Coast hotel, where Coral has started talking to a woman on the dance floor. She speaks with the woman about how nice the hotel is, then, when the woman agrees that they are lucky to live in a country like Australia, suggests that "there is a price that has to be paid" for things to be as nice as they are (23). The woman, named Leonie, gets more and more uncomfortable, and Coral prevents her from leaving the dance floor and going to eat dinner with her husband. While restraining Leonie, Coral then goes on to talk to her about the performativity of getting along with other hotel guests. Coral also mentions that it can be difficult to get along with one's spouse when forced into close quarters for the length of a vacation. Leonie cries and struggles against Coral to free herself, and when she is eventually able to break free, she tells Coral that her husband is cheating on her and that she wants to kill his mistress. Leonie then tells Coral never to speak to her again.
A young man named Rick has seen all of Coral and Leonie's interaction and approaches Coral. Rick says that he is looking for his wife and asks Coral about her relationship to Leonie. They then begin to talk, with Rick saying that his wife scolded him earlier for wanting to eat a hot dog for lunch, rather than something fancy or refined. Coral finds out that Rick is at the hotel for his honeymoon, then teases hm about his failure to enjoy his own honeymoon at such a nice hotel. Though Rick eventually turns to leave, he stays with Coral and asks her if she knows any of the people staying at the hotel. Coral replies that she and Roy are regulars, and she mentions that most of the couples at the hotel are unhappy or hiding something from each other.
Rick says that he himself doesn't like the hotel too much, since he thinks it is too nice and over the top for someone like him. After being told by Coral that he is sensible, Rick then mentions that he was scared to be drafted and fight in Vietnam. This provokes Coral to ask Rick if she reminds him of anyone, echoing her earlier conversation with Roy. She then tells Rick that he would have made a great soldier and has great hair. Rick says that he really likes Susie, his fiancee, and he mentions their plan to settle down and have kids.
Roy suddenly enter and tries to pull Coral away from Rick. Coral says that she and Rick were talking about "the standard of living in" Australia, and she tells Roy that she is "doing well" at relating to others like he wanted her to (28). As the scene closes, they bid Rick farewell as he remains waiting for his wife.
Scene 2
The scene opens at the tent and caravan city where Gwen, Jim, and Meg are staying for the holiday. As usual, Gwen is complaining, this time about the unnecessary time suck of Christmas gift giving and about how much space is taken up when a family gifts their child a bike or scooter at the beach. Jim enters, wondering if anyone has seen a small supermarket carton. When no one can find it, Jim reveals that all of his presents for Gwen and Meg were in the carton. Gwen scolds Jim, blaming him for hiding the presents "a bit too well" (30). Gwen then gives Meg and Jim their gifts with a very negative attitude. While Jim is still confused about the carton being left behind, Gwen urges Meg to get her gifting out of the way so that she can start making lunch already.
Eventually, Meg says that she saw the carton sitting in the hallway, and she assumes that Gwen saw it too. Meg then accuses Gwen of having neglected to bring it on purpose, saying that they always know where Jim has put the gifts but that they always play along and act surprised when he produces them from their obvious hiding place. Gwen replies by accusing Meg of having bad manners and then saying that she prioritized taking only things on the trip that were part of their normal routine. When Meg then says that Gwen endeavors to make everyone actively miserable, Gwen lapses into calling Meg nasty, suggesting that she take up with Tom and make all of her sacrifices amount to nothing. Jim tries to calm Gwen down, but she leaves, unable to keep herself calm.
Now alone, Jim reprimands Meg for not behaving. In order to shed light on Gwen's mentality, Jim tells Meg of a time when he and Gwen had just started dating. They had seen Gone with the Wind, and later, when Jim went to visit her alone at her home, she was reciting Vivien Leigh's line that she would "never be hungry again" (33). Jim tells Meg that Gwen's desire to control everything is born from the destitute conditions that she was brought up in.
Just then, a group of four campers enter. They address Jim as a regular at the site, and they mention that they have some grievances that they wanted to air before the site managers. They mention that the regulars were unable to get a spot near the water, that several facilities need to be expanded, and that several of the new families camping at the site are of an unsavory kind. They assume that Jim will agree with them and their obsessive demands, and they give him a lists of the grievances as they exit. Just after they leave, however, Jim rips up the list of their demands.
Scene 3
On the roof of the Gold Coast Hotel, Coral and Rick are enjoying the view and discussing Rick's engagement to Susie. Rick mentions that Susie is suspicious of him spending so much time with Coral, and he asks Coral if he acts nervous when he is going to meet her. Coral replies by saying that she and Rick like each other. Rick seems to have several key disconnects with Susie that have driven him to Coral, but her suspicions have made her even more distant than before. Rick says that he cannot see Coral anymore, but she says that he cannot leave her. She tells him that she likes him because he is "still alive and talking and laughing" (38). Rick say that he regrets the suburban and small aspirations of his life with Susie, and Coral coaxes him into the dark to kiss him.
Eventually, Roy comes out on the roof searching for Coral, promising her that they will make the next year better and improve their marriage. Coral reveals herself with Rick, and Roy tells Rick to leave them alone. Once totally alone, Roy tells Coral that he will send her to shock therapy and lock her up if she does not change her behavior immediately. In response, Coral says that she is going to their room to think and gather her composure. She then leaves Roy, who leans out and listens to the party below.
Scene 4
In this brief scene, the fairies from the play return and stage a storm scene during which Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" plays. Meanwhile, Jim and Gwen are packing all of their things as a storm destroys their campsite. The fairies drive them out.
Scene 5
As the storm subsides, Mendelssohn's "Dream" overture plays and the lights brighten to a warmer hue. Vic, Harry, and Tom are sitting and enjoying the beach, having missed the storm. They have all received their new gifts, and they plan to go around to the next beach. The scene then concludes.
Analysis
Act 3 continues to deepen the themes explored in the prior two acts—especially those of class, materialism, and performativity. One of the most interesting things about how Act 3 does so, however, lies in the fact that peripheral and minor characters, played by the same actors as the main characters, drive much of the action.
In Scene 1, for example, consider how each of the central themes of the play are explored in Coral's interactions with Leonie (played by the same person as Meg) and Rick (played by the actor who plays Tom). In her conversation with Leonie, Coral adopts Roy's outgoing personality and opinions on the standard of living in Australia, but rather than use these attitudes as a means of ingratiating herself with Leonie, she uses them almost for offensive purposes. She performs goodwill in order to restrain Leonie against her wishes and pressure her to reveal information about her husband's affair. On the other hand, Coral does not put on any airs in her interactions with Rick, whom she considers to be an authentic and humble person. The fact that Rick is a young person, as well as the topics of their conversations (e.g., the military, Rick's youthful hair, Rick's liveliness), also suggest that Coral is drawn to Rick at least partially because he reminds her of her own son. The lack of performativity and authenticity she exhibits with Rick should thus be considered a statement on how close to him she truly feels. Up until this point in the play, Coral might have been said to have put on airs or hide her true feelings in order to get along with everyone else; the fact that she is her true self around Rick thus speaks volumes.
One other important thing to note about Coral's interactions with Rick—both in Scene 1 and Scene 3—is that Coral and Rick have the same opinion of capitalism, materialism, and class, which contributes to the relaxed and honest nature of their conversations. They both are ambivalent to the luxuries that wealth brings, and they both seem uncertain that these luxuries are worth the sacrifices demanded of them as members of a cultured, capitalist society. Coral does not think that her hotel stays are worth the loss of her son in the same way that Rick does not think a life with Susie is worth his own sacrifices.
In Scene 2, the campers and their conversation with Jim also shed a great deal of light on the play's major themes. The fact that the campers reflect the same xenophobic ideas as Gwen (i.e., dislike of newcomers), want to improve the site in an overwhelming amount of ways, and have preconceived notions of their own entitlement to the site is evocative of the societal pressures that fuel Gwen and make Meg and Jim feel oppressed. The fact that the campers are played by the main actors of the drama is also highly evocative—such a choice shows how, even when on vacation, the concerns of the everyday and one's immediate community tend to trickle in and serve as a source of pressure. Jim ripping up their list thus reflects not only a minor annoyance with these small characters, but also a rejection of the larger, materialistic performances that society demands of him. Gwen, on the other hand, is revealed as the kind of person who parrots the phrases and logic of Hollywood movies like Gone with the Wind, saying to herself that she will one day be rich.
In terms of performativity, consider also the return of the fairies in Scene 4. Here, Gow blends the very serious and heavy thematic explorations of the previous three acts with the lighthearted fantasy of fairies. At the same time, however, even this fantasy is tinted by the knowledge that these fairies are agents of a destructive storm. This ominous deployment of the fairies, their appropriation from Shakespeare, and the antithetical juxtaposition of the storm scene with the idyllic Scene 5 thus all reflect the extent to which Gow is framing the work as a highly crafted performance. Here, the pretense assumed by each of the play's characters in their relationships has reached its height. Moreover, consider the artifice of these first four scenes, compared to the way Vic, Tom, and Harry act towards one another in the last scene. Unencumbered by material or national concerns, the family simply engages in a quick and relaxing dialogue with low dramatic stakes and with little to no tension. Performativity here, as elsewhere in the play, is thus framed as a kind of natural human response to conflict; without conflict or tension, there is no need to hide behind a mask.
