Cost of Living

Ani, a woman in her early forties, is Eddie’s wife. The two are separated. Majok calls for diverse casting of the play, and states that Ani’s last name can be changed to reflect her ethnicity or background. She only appears in the flashbacks, as she died in the interval between the flashback scenes and the prologue.

Ani was injured in a car accident six months prior to her first scene. As a result, she has quadriplegia. She is strong and stubborn, with a dry acerbic wit and a down-to-earth, unfiltered sharpness. The play doesn’t explain the details of her separation from Eddie. However, her attitude toward Eddie shows that she is still deeply hurt and isn’t interested in trusting him again. She mentions that Eddie hasn’t contacted her in the six months since her accident, but that the separation—and Eddie’s subsequent moving on with another woman—happened prior. Eddie mentions caring for her when she was blackout drunk, which implies that Ani may have also been an alcoholic. There’s no mention of her sobriety, but on the night of the accident, Ani doesn’t remember telling the EMTs that she was driving to Maine, and it’s possible that she was drinking.

When Eddie offers to become her caretaker, Ani doesn’t have much of a choice. She has no money and is only receiving medical care because she is on Eddie’s insurance, and her disability makes a caretaker imperative. Thus, Ani demonstrates how marginalization can force people with disabilities to make unpleasant compromises. For instance, Ani dreams of going to Maine and seeing trees and nature, but she also knows that the logistics of traveling are complicated. She dies of a blood clot a week before her birthday and only two to three weeks before the events of the prologue.

Jess, a young woman in her twenties, is the child of an immigrant. The play leaves it open to casting as to where her mother immigrated from. Jess is alone in the world, as her mother became ill and had to return to her home country to afford medical care. Jess’s phone call after leaving John’s apartment implies that her mother’s illness has changed or deteriorated her sense of self—Jess can no longer speak to the mother she knows.

As a first-generation US citizen, Jess feels immense pressure to be the success story of her family and sacrifices her own safety and wellbeing to send money to her mother. Jess went to Princeton and graduated with honors, which is no small achievement for someone without financial privilege or the benefit of supportive parents. Jess is closed off and reluctant to allow anyone in. When John pries and pushes her to answer him, Jess says that she has seen a lot of life. She mentions that she has been hit before, implying that she has experienced some kind of abuse. She has never been employed as a caretaker, but has bathed another person, which suggests that perhaps she was responsible for caring for her mother.

Jess starts to let her guard down with John only to be devastated when her openness is met with distrust. In the final scene, it becomes clear just how vulnerable she is, as she reveals that she is living in her car.