The playwright note at the beginning of the play, which states that all characters are to be played by the two main actors who "...do not make wholesome changes in costume, hair and make-up..." establishes one of the key discourses of the entire play; shifting identities.

 

The characters and identities in 'Ruby Moon' do not remain constant and after analysis are not easy to define. The playwrights note lingers in the audience's mind and when Ray becomes Sid the audience cannot accept this character as being entirely indistinct from Ray. The audience can clearly see the actor playing Ray as welll as Ray himself beneath the veneer of Sid Craven. The same applies for Sylvie.

 

Thus it is difficult to define characters with absolute certainty. Where does one character start and the other finish? An audience member cannot say with certainty whether Sid's words are his own or those of the character at his centre; Ray. What's more, do any of the other characters exist? Or are they fragments of dreams or 'the same nightmare'?

 

RAY MOON

 

Ray could be seen as a stereotypical father in western culture. He is a white middle aged breadwinner, who strives to protect and provide for his family. Ray is the rock upon which Sylvie leans to get through this troubled period. Ray is positioned as the dominant male, who keeps a level head and takes control of the situation he "keeps his wife medicated" and makes sure she has had a "lie down".

 

However, as the narrative progresses Ray's integrity is thrown into question and through plot clues, symbolism and metaphor, the light of suspicion is slowly cast upon his character. In terms of narrative, the audience gradually pieces together clues which construct a more flawed picture of Ray.

 

The first narrative piece of the picture comes when the audience sees the skill with which Ray lies to his grief stricken wife. Ray lies to Sylvie about his daily commute to work (we learn the Ray is no longer going to work, but rather, riding the trains looking for Ruby). Ray lies about his relationship with Veronica (he had an affair with her the day of Ruby's disappearance). He is not a character that can be totally trusted.

 

Furthermore Ray's sexual appetite is one that repulsive to the average viewer as he both rejects and ravages Veronica as well as kissing passionately a symbolic visage of his own daughter. Ray's sexual appetite does not endear him to the audience.

 

The second piece of evidence comes in the form of the subject of a conversation he has with Sylvie when he remembers "...she'd be all limp and sleepy in the back seat...I imagine them finding her like that". This has disturbing echoes in later sections of the play when Sylvie accuses him of putting her body in the back of the car.

 

The final piece of narrative evidence comes from Sylvie's accusation in the final scenes of the play. This accusation is filled with detail, sounds entirely plausible and Ray does little to defend himself against it.

 

Yet perhaps the biggest factor that casts suspicion on Ray's character is a symbolic factor. Ray read the fairy tale story, a story which is a metaphor and metonym for Ruby's disappearance so symbolically he begins the story of Ruby's disappearance as well as ending it.

 

These are powerful symbols that the audience cannot ignore when viewing and interpreting Ray's charcter. Ray's character is one that contains secrets which run contrary to the audiences intial perceptions of a stereotypical, father and provider.

 

SYLVIE MOON

 

The character of Sylvie represents the typical middle class mother, who cannot seem to overcome the grief of losing her daughter. Sylvie is constructed early on in the play as the weaker character of the two. Ray must keep her medicated, she reverts to infantile behaviour, the other characters patronise her behind her back, she hears phantom phones.

 

She is portrayed as an unstable, paranoid character who constructs fantasies to cope with the reality of her situation. At one point Sylvie becomes Ruby and becomes intimate with Ray.

 

Yet Sylvie is able to speak and communicate clearly, she is able to interrogate and ask pertinent questions to characters and she is able to piece together the pieces of Ray's deceptions.

 

Ultimately, she is a controlling force in the couples inability to move on and deal with grief. She is the one who insists on using present tense, she is the one who insists on hearing the fairy tales over and over and finally, she is the one who restarts the cycle of grief by asking Ray to "Tell me what we know..." (Epilogue).

 

RUBY MOON

 

Ruby Moon's character is defined in her absence. Through the narrative and through the perception of various characters an image of Ruby is slowly built.

 

An image that is at times pleasant and times disturbing. Her voice cries out in the darkness and her memory haunts the characters.

 

She is both a symbol of innocence and a symbol of corruption. She is a sweet child lost and a haunting spectre of sexualit that sends characters insane with grief.

 

She is a blood red moon and metaphor for sex, death, life, horror, memory and just about anything the audience desires.

 

"It begins like a fairytale..."

 

SID CRAVEN

Obsessed with Veronica Vale.

Frequently spent time with Ruby painting her face.

Sid is a clown that is initially blamed for Ruby's disappearance.

He is a symbol for paedophiliac paranoia and a sign of the changing times.

The audience and police automatically assume the worst.

The word 'Craven' mean 'coward'.

Sid is haunted by fear, a fear of violence and authority. Sylvie at one point during her questioning loses her patience and Sid recoils from her anger "Are you going to hurt me?" Sid has endured violent beatings from police and other sources. His temperament is obviously affected.

 

DULCIE DOILY

A stereotypical spinster riddled by loneliness and seeking solace in fundamental Christian doctrine.

Refers to God and the bible.

The word 'Dulcie' means 'to sooth or placate and it seems as though her character is anything but a soothing influence on Ray.

Dulcie tells Ray in no uncertain terms that Ruby is dead and that he must begin to accept this loss, "She is in a better place...you can't keep doing this to yourselves".

The name is ironic as she doesn't provide solace or comfort.

According to Dulcie, Ruby released her parrot, and at one point, taught it to swear. The parrot, in a ironic twist, used to screech, "Where's the pretty girl" seemingly foretelling Ruby's disappearance.

 

VERONICA VALE

 

A stereotypical femme fatale from an era of leisure suits and lounge rooms.

Veronica taught Ruby to sing and learn the scale, in exchange for running to the chemist to fetch Veronica's medicine.

Veronica puts on a nightly strip tease for the men in the street and was having an affair with Ray.

Veronica claims to hate Ruby for her innocence and lack of knowledge of men and sex. Veronica is of the opinion that Ruby deserved to be kidnapped and assaulted.

She did sign Sid's photo which, being in Ruby's possession, is seen later int he ice cream man's van.

 

SONNY JIM

 

A supposed veteran and military enthusiast, Sonny represents the gun toting suburban commando, espousing military discipline dogma and advocating home 'protection'.

Sonny cannot accept the loss of his interfering and domineering mother, who he simultaneously loves and hates.

Paranoid and anal-retentive character.

Sonny's dog uncovers Ruby's doll which was buried in the church yard. Sonny no longer has the doll in his possession and apart from giving a flimsy alibi offers no useful information to Sylvie.

 

THE WIZARD (aka THE GALLOWS BOY)

 

An enigmatic character whose motives and purpose are not clear. The Wizard once lived in the Moon house and as a young boy was kidnapped by a wizard and returned many years later.

The Wizard claims to make things disappear and confesses to Sylvie that he wishes to take a small boy to be his apprentice.

The Wizard gives Sylvie a fragment of Ruby Doll's dress and subtly suggest that Sylvie should question Dawn - Ruby's baby sitter.

The Wizard, a demented Pied Piper of Hamlin, who attracts children with his flute, adds a sinister air of mystery to the plot. He is too easy a target for the audience to lay blame on and serves only as a metaphor for the cycle of domestic violence, (where violent fathers breed violent sons) "I am the old man who took me".

 

DAWN

 

A grotesque parody of the typical self-conscious teenager, Dawn hates the way she looks and wishes to change her name, address, lifestyle and appearance and adopt that of an entirely new persona Rose.

She goes to extreme to change her appearance and covers her 15 year old face with rubber bands.

Dawn initially raises Ray's suspicions when she drags over a heavy suitcase that contains something shocking. The case contains only dolls which she both uses to model people and as a model for her future self.

Ruby once broke one of her dolls, which is perhaps a symbolice gesture of the destruction of identity. Dawn provides information that leads to Professor Ogle.

 

PROFESSOR OGLE

 

A guilt-ridden scientist who, claims to have ceated a portable black hole or portal. The professor makes a bogus confession concerning Ruby's disappearance, saying that his invention is the cause of her loss.

The Professor admits that Ruby did spend time in his apartment, watching cartoons, however, apart from this Ogle offers no useful information.

The Professor is perhaps a symbol for scientif methods of explaining the unexplainabble, or perhaps Ogle is a symbol for the inherent guilt and overacting conscience inside all people.

To Ogle is to watch some flirtatiously and the Professor's name serves to add a sinister name to his otherwise erratic and disorganised character.