[2] Its humour depends on incongruity and the carnivalesque, and helps to convey Churchill's political message about accepting people who are different and not dominating them or forcing them into particular social roles.

[5] The New York production opened at Lucille Lortel's Theatre de Lys on 18 May 1981 and finished on 4 September 1983, and was directed by Tommy Tune with an original incidental music score by Maury Yeston.

Betty has left Clive, her daughter Victoria is now married to an overbearing Martin, and Edward has an openly gay relationship with Gerry.

The final scene shows that Victoria has left Martin for a polyamorous relationship with Edward and Lin, and they are sharing custody of their son Tommy.

Michael Patterson confirms this, writing that "Betty is played by a man in order to show how femininity is an artificial and imposed construct".

[8] James Harding suggests that by cross-casting Betty and Edward in Act I, Churchill is also playing it safe: It makes same-sex relationships visibly heterosexual and normative.

My master is my light"; Amelia Howe Kritzer argues that "the reversal exposes the rupture in Joshua's identity caused by his internalization of colonial values".

By the end of the act, of course, he realises the oppressive nature of colonialism after atrocities are committed by British troops (which result in the death of his parents); hence his decision to fire his rifle at Clive.

Amelia Howe Kritzer argues that "Churchill remained close to the Brechtian spirit of encouraging the audience to actively criticize institutions and ideologies they have previously taken for granted".

"[10] She essentially uses the play as a social arena to explore "the Victorian origins of contemporary gender definitions and sexual attitudes, recent changes ... and some implications of these changes.