New Works/New Voices Festival

The Embalmer

 Images

 Inspiration from Film and

Literature

 Research
New Works/New Voices Festival
The Embalmer

 Images

 Inspiration from Film and

Literature

 Research
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Images

A COLLAGE OF
INSPIRING
IMAGES
New Works/New Voices Festival The Embalmer
Images

THE EMBALMING TABLE

This strikes myself as a visual

metaphor as an altar where Tyler's
ritualistic actions commence. It's a
sacred object to him as each one of
his “art pieces” (p.14), are brought
before him. This is also the place
where he falls in love with Cynthia.
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Images ETRUSCAN VASE

“were used for domestic purposes,

for sacrifices, marriages, presents
at divers periods of the year, and
especially for funerals. When the
body of the deceased person had
been placed in the tomb, his
relations and friends walked around
it in succession, each carrying in
his hand a little vase full of
essence, with which he sprinkled
the corpse, and which he
afterwards placed in the tomb by
the side of the dead.”

http://sacred-texts.com/sex/rmn/rmn57.htm

This metaphorical image represents

Dr. West's deceased daughter,
Victoria. One similar to the one
shown here was given to him as a
gift from her.
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Images
PRISON CELL

I envision a small cramped,

gloomy prison cell in which Dr.
West is placed in at the end of
the play. A visual metaphor to
symbolize how this once
respected man has “vanished”
(p.7) and in his place a dark and
lonesome soul resides.

The notion of West being

locked away also “locks away”
the secret he keeps from his
wife as to what is said between
Tyler and himself that caused
him to spiral into madness.
New Works/New Voices Festival
The Embalmer

 Images

 Inspiration from Film and

Literature

 Research
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Inspiration from Film and Literature
GOTHIC FICTION

a genre of literature that combines elements of both

horror and romance. Prominent features of Gothic
fiction include terror (both psychological and
physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted
houses, Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death,
decay, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses.

Examples include:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_novel

Features in The Embalmer include:

The romance between Tyler and Cynthia
The Etruscan Vase
Dr. West's spiral into madness
The death and decay surrounding the play
The elements of psychological terror
and many more...
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Inspiration from Film and Literature

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT

“Based on the true story of a family forced to relocate near a clinic

where their teenage son was being treated for cancer. The family
begins experiencing violent, supernatural events that the parents
first blame on stress from the illness, but they later discover that
their new home is a former mortuary with a dark past.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492044/

The core action of this film takes place in the basement where the ill
son's bedroom is located. In the basement is the once embalming
room. It's used a metaphorical image as the “gateway” of the spirits
haunting the house as horrific events occurred in there.
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Inspiration from Film and Literature
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

“A young FBI cadet must confide in

an incarcerated and manipulative
killer to receive his help on catching
another serial killer who skins his
victims.”

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/

The psychological “tug-of-war”

between the film's Hannibal Lecter
and Clarice Starling parallel that of
Tyler and Dr. West. One tries to get
ahead of another in this battle of wits
to gain control of their opponent.

The media coverage of the killer

Buffalo Bill is another element similar
in The Embalmer (p. 21-22). The
media's impact and influence is
something I would like to further
explore with this play.
New Works/New Voices Festival
The Embalmer

 Images

 Inspiration from Film and

Literature

 Research
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Research
EMBALMING

“in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily

preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make
them suitable for display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming
are thus sanitization, presentation, and preservation (or restoration)
of a dead body to achieve this effect. “

“An embalmer is someone who has been trained in the art and
science of embalming and may not have any contact with the family,
although many people fill both roles. Embalming training commonly
involves formal study in anatomy, thanatology, chemistry, and
specific embalming theory combined with practical instruction in a
mortuary with a resultant formal qualification granted after the
passing of a final practical examination and acceptance into a
recognized embalming body.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embalming
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Research

EMBALMING ROOM

“The embalming room has a distinctive smell. Four-

mal-dee-hyde. As you can see the room has two
‘tables,’ one of the old school variety, presumably
metal with a white finish (shown with a sheet on it), the
other more modern, cold shiny steel. They’re slightly
inclined, with tubes running the output into toilets.
Cost effective, I presume. At the foot of each one, on
the counter top, was an embalming machine, nice pink
hose wrapped up around the tank. Electrical plugs
hang from the ceilings - I didn’t inquire as to their use.
As creepy and smelly as it was, it was impeccably
clean.”
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Research
NECROPHILIA

“is the sexual attraction to corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia

by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American
Psychiatric Association. “

“Rosman and Resnick (1989) theorized that any the following

situations could be antecedents to necrophilia:

(a) He/she is very fearful of rejection by women/men and he/she

desires a sexual partner who is incapable of rejecting him/her;
and/or

(b) He/she is fearful of the dead, and transforms his/her fear — by

means of reaction formation — into a desire.

(c)He/she develops an exciting fantasy of sex with a corpse,

sometimes after exposure to a corpse. “
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Research
NECROPHILIA cont.

“The authors also reported that, of their sample of 'necrophiliacs,':

• 68 percent were motivated by a desire for an unresisting and

unrejecting partner
• 21 percent by a want for reunion with a lost partner
• 15 percent by sexual attraction to dead people
• 15 percent by a desire for comfort or to overcome feelings of isolation
• 11 percent by a desire to remedy low self-esteem by expressing
power over a corpse.

At the end of their own report, Rosman and Resnick wrote that their study
should only be used like a spring-board for further, more in depth,
research.”

“Minor modern researches conducted in England have shown that some

necrophiles tend to choose a dead mate after failing to create romantic
attachments with the living.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrophilia
New Works/New Voices Festival The
Embalmer
Research
PSYCHOPATHY

“is a psychological construct that describes chronic immoral and

antisocial behavior. The term is often used interchangeably with
sociopathy.”

“The term "psychopathy" is often confused with psychotic

disorders. It is estimated that approximately one percent of the
general population are psychopaths. “

“The psychopath is defined by a psychological gratification in

criminal, sexual, or aggressive impulses and the inability to learn
from past mistakes. Individuals with this disorder gain satisfaction
through their antisocial behavior and lack remorse for their
actions.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
New Works/New Voices Festival
The Embalmer

 Images

 Inspiration from Film and

Literature

 Research