Cost of Living is a 2017 play by Martyna Majok.
It examines issues of class and disability, focusing on two couples. Eddie and Ani are a couple in their forties. At some point Eddie and Ani separated, apparently because he was unfaithful. Before they got divorced, Ani was in a devastating car accident that left her a quadriplegic. They now live apart, Eddie with his new lover, but he comes back to Ani and offers to be her caretaker.
The second couple is John and Jess. John is a handsome, upper-crust young man who also happens to have cerebral palsy and requires assistance at home. He hires Jess, a college graduate who is struggling to find a job and has had to resort to waiting tables in bars. They get to know each other, and there's a hint of romance.
Tropes:
- Bathtub Scene: Each couple has a scene where the caretaker bathes the disabled person. Although it's not typical Fanservice each are played for intimate moments. Jess eagerly accepts John's invitation to come over on Friday night. The shyly intimate moment between Eddie and Ani goes in another direction when he steps out of the bath for just a moment, and she slips under the water and nearly drowns.
- Bittersweet Ending: Jess has been humiliated by John and quit the job. Ani has died of a stroke and Eddie is alone, having apparently broken up with his new girlfriend as well. But Eddie and Jess meet each other at the end and he offers her a chance to rent a room in his apartment, and it seems as if they'll form some sort of connection.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Eddie and Ani's whole relationship. She says she'd rather pay a caretaker than hang on Eddie's insurance.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Played straight, and then subverted. John asks Jess to come over Friday night at seven. She gets all excited, puts on her best dress, comes over...and finds out that he is going out on a date with someone else and needed her help getting dressed.
- Foot-Dragging Divorcee: Eddie is dragging his feet about getting the divorce papers signed. It's partly because he expresses concern about her health insurance, but he's clearly ashamed about everything, even if he isn't willing to break up with his new girlfriend.
- The Ghost: The woman Eddie left Ani for, before the accident. She's mentioned many times and once she's heard offstage honking a car horn. She never appears.
- How We Got Here: The opening scene finds Eddie in a bar, drowning his sorrows about Ani's death. The time frame then jumps back to the two stories.
- Jerkass: It eventually becomes clear that John is kind of a jerk. He makes a lot of judgmental, unkind comments about Jess working in a bar. After the Poor Communication Kills misunderstanding, he doesn't apologize. Then when Jess asks if she can stay and wait for him, he says he's not comfortable leaving her there alone, because she took some soap. With that, Jess quits.
- Minimalist Cast: Only four actors in the play.
- No Periods, Period: Eddie is giving Ani a bath, when he reaches between her legs to clean her private area, and she has to tell him that she's on her period. It's an extremely awkward moment.
- Political Correctness Is Evil: John gets very upset when Jess uses the jargon phrased "differently abled". He pronounces it "fucking retarded."
- Poor Communication Kills: John asks Jess to come over at seven on Friday. She gets excited and gets dressed up. She comes over only to discover that he has a date with someone else and needed her help to get ready. The misunderstanding and hurt feelings lead Jess to quit her job.
- Sarcasm Mode: Eddie advises Ani to decorate her apartment with bright colors, to help cheer herself up.Ani: I thought I'd try yoga, for my emotions.
Eddie: Can you...do—
Ani: NO.
