I enjoyed the play, “Everybody” by Brandon Jacobs- Jenkins and I thought it was an excellent interpretation of the 15^th century play, “Everyman” it was a memorable experience. At the beginning of the play the character God asks Death to bring everybody to give a presentation on how they spent their lives. This followed with Death roaming around the auditorium at first seems at random asking people if they would like to meet God. When someone sitting in our class section was picked upon by Death I started to get nervous thinking I would be asked as well. However shortly after I realized it was not random, the actors were dispersed amongst the audience which I thought was an amazing interactive way to begin the play. Another concept about the play that I thought was fascinating was the actors don’t know which role they will play until they take a ball from the lottery so each actor mesmerized all the roles. I thought this was fascinating because this allows the play to be different each time adding a different take on the play. The main role Everybody was played by Lakisha Michelle May who I thought did an amazing job as she struggled to figure out what was her life purpose and meaning before Death comes.

I thought it was interesting that majority of the play was told through Everybody’s dream. This dream-like state is like death because you are in a deep slumber. Throughout the play we are introduced to important aspects of Everybody’s life which include; Friendship, Cousinship, Stuff and Love.

We can all relate to these aspects of Everybody’s life because as people our friendships, family, love and the material possessions we value are not only important to us but a part of us. Throughout the play Everybody asks Friendship, Cousinship and Stuff to help with the presentation for God and come with her. However, they all refuse to come with her and Cousinship gives an insight that stays with Everybody, she is selfish by asking them to stop living to go with her to recall her memories. I also thought the interaction between Everybody and Stuff was interesting because Stuff explained he could not go with her because it’s too much too carry. Also, he doesn’t belong to her once she’s gone Stuff will move on to someone new romanticizing them making them believe they need Stuff which he acknowledges himself is a problem. I thought this was interesting because we often form an attachment to material stuff but its only stuff that will not stay with you and give your life meaning. My favorite character was Love who was going to walk out during the middle of the play because he was ignored. Everybody is desperate to take Love on her journey since no one is left and Love makes her take off her clothes and run around while repeating what he says. I thought this was a pivotal moment because when nothing and no one is left we still have our love and that will never leave us. Sometimes we lose track about how important love is, especially the love we have for ourselves because we get distracted by material things and other people. When the time came for Everybody to go on her journey the only ones that stayed with her was Love and All the Shitty Evil Things which comes to the realization when we die the only things left are the love we have for ourselves and others and the bad things we have done. I thought this play was amazing from beginning to end and left an impact on how I think about my purpose in life and what is of importance.