Reading Response to Hudes's "Water by the Spoonful"

While many plays may have several different “worlds” or realities that exist within them, a good playwright will have these realities coexist with one another in such a way that the overall play as a whole gains a level of depth worthy of analysis. In her play Water by the Spoonful, Quiara Alegría Hudes expertly weaves a great play by creating two realities, the real world of Elliot and his family as well as the various users of Odessa’s website and the virtual world of the website itself, and having them interact with one another at key points to emphasize the complexity of certain relationships or themes.

For example, the first time these two realities mesh is when Odessa and John’s lunch meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Elliot and Yaz. When the scene begins, Odessa and John are discussing their lives and addictions as though they are still in the safe, virtual world of the website. While both individuals are incredibly friendly with one another, the conversation is almost too light for such serious subject matter. As audience members later realize, neither person is being completely honest with the other, leaving many important pieces of information left unsaid for fear of judgment. Their real world rendezvous is just as safe as a conversation on the website because Odessa and John can still hide behind the mask they want the other to see.

However, when Elliot and Yaz arrive on the scene to chastise Odessa for not contributing to her sister’s funeral costs, the real world breaks apart the illusions created in the virtual world. Odessa becomes almost hostile and shows a more severe side to her personality that audiences have not yet seen and most likely did not expect since her demeanor on the website is so calm and maternal. The dissonance that results from this clash between the two realities underscores how various characters in the play hide behind a virtual mask so as to avoid taking responsibility for past actions or mistakes. However, as Odessa finds out after this confrontation with Elliot and Yaz, sooner or later a person’s “real” self will have to face what he or she has done if any closure is to be gotten.