Character in "Romeo" and "Lisa"

In “My Name Is Lisa,” the opening scene reveals that the goal of Lisa’s character is to escape her responsibility. She clicks to start her video blog and to leave the world defined by the frame. This drives the plot. Later in the film, Lisa faces tension against the film’s antagonist, her mother’s dementia, when she is called to either be proactive or reactive. Lisa is pulled between trying to escape via her video blog and taking on the role of a mother. She is asked to switch from daughter to mother. It is much harder to get a grasp of her mother’s character because she suffers from (presumably) dementia and changes attitudes much in the film. Based on the opening shot, though, she seems to be a very caring mother, bringing Lisa lunch, very encouraging, saying “you tell ‘em” about Lisa’s blog, and maybe a bit protective.

In “Sometimes Romeo Is Sad,” the two main characters are Mike and Margot. Margot is fragile and quite sensitive to the point that she seems bitter. She frequently tells Mike what he “should” do and is very upfront about how she feels about his jail time and philosophy or lack there of. Her goal seems to be to get to know someone upfront and not have them “sneak up on her.” Mike, on the other hand, is more of a free spirit; gentle, cool (“wouldn’t look out of place on a motorcycle”) and comfortable (he very openly admits he was in jail and why). He has a dominating curiosity throughout the play. His maturing and free-spiritedness combats Margot’s need for control. But there is something seductive about Mike to Margot’s desperation. She feels both a need to protect him (“you shouldn’t do drugs”) and, by the end of the play, a desire for him as a lover.