Theater

Since this is a metaplay, the physical theater space is openly acknowledged. The performance of a play is also acknowledged. Bri refers to his wife, Sheila, and his shared life caring for their severely disabled daughter, Joe, as a play, because they repeat the same actions daily in order to attend to Joe's needs. Like actors, they each need to find their own personal motivations for performing the same roles, the roles of Joe's parents, every day. The dramatic structure, metaplay, is also an extended simile. How Bri and Sheila feel about their respective roles reveals how they each feel about their daughter. Sheila has a genuine emotional attachment to Joe. Bri says he no longer feels an emotional attachment to Joe, though he faithfully attends to her.

There is also a theater in the play. Sheila is a member of a community theater troupe, though...