Abstract:

April De Angelis has been one of the most significant female playwrights in the contemporary British Theatre since the last years of the 20th century. Continuing writing plays in the 21st century, De Angelis deals with the topics of adolescent problems and parental worries in her comedy play Jumpy which was performed in 2011. The title of the play derives from a monkey toy which symbolises childhood. Jumpy focuses on a middle class family dealing with the disobedience of a teenage daughter and her conflict with her mother who is going through her own dilemma. Therefore, De Angelis’ play primarily deals with two contrasting characters’ relationships between mother Hilary and her adolescent daughter Tilly. According to Tilly, her mother's advice is ridiculous, her rules are strict, and her prohibitions are meaningless. De Angelis emphasizes that the anger and problems in adolescents are a temporary process, and families should be aware about this situation. The play reflects various psychological emotions of adolescents and the difficult experiences of parents. In De Angelis’ Jumpy parents are warned of the risks which adolescents may go through. The playwright explains the devastating problems that adolescence might experience by tackling unprotected sexual contact, drugs, entering terrorist groups, cell phone addiction, and social media. Nevertheless, the topic that De Angelis emphasizes in Jumpy particularly is adolescent pregnancy. By making use of the contradictions of the female characters and disclosing multiple disputes, Jumpy opens the door to new inquiries. Therefore, the play represents the positive and negative characteristics of the 21st century’s human beings in social life.

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