Brad Shrum

Luke Maclean

The play Boys Life by Howard Korder was first shown on February 29,
1988.
Howard Korder is an American playwright and screenwriter and is most well-known for his coming-of-
age play Boys Life. He is also known for his work with The Passion of Ayn Rand and Lakeview Terrace. He
was born on November 24, 1957 in New York City, New York.
The play is about Jack, Phil, and Don going through relationships and friendship situations and how it
impacted their lives. Jack is married to Carla who isnt actually met until the end of the play. When Jack
met Maggie, he decided that he was going to cheat on his wife with Maggie but had to decide how to do
it. Don went on a date with Lisa who had some problems originally, but they worked it out and decided
to continue to date. Later in the relationship, Don cheats on Lisa with a random girl, but Lisa finds the
girls underwear in Dons room. After Don sweet talks Lisa, we dont hear much about their relationship
until we find Jack and Phil talking at Don and Lisas wedding. Near the beginning of the play, Phil admits
to being in love with a friend of his name Karen. Not much of this really affects the play. We dont really
see much about Phils love life; however, he is constantly there to help Don and Jack not hate each other
after their fights.
The thing that both Luke and I liked about the play most was the fact that the play seemed pretty
realistic to what life can be like. The way the guys talked seemed to fit normal guy vernacular. They
acted like young men throughout the play. We feel that the meaning behind the play is that life is short
and that you should have fun during and not stress over the little things.
The play takes place in a large city. Some background information that they might need is that there are
gaps throughout the play and should expect these to come and have an idea on what happened during
these periods. For example, Lisa and Don fix their relationship and decide to get married in the biggest
gap of the play. The major themes of the play are friendship, relationships including dating and
marriage, and betrayal. Throughout the play, Don and Jack betray Lisa and Carla/Maggie respectively.
Phil keeps the friendship of Don and Jack and himself good.