“If I were you” followed the life of the playwright named Gerrard. This play followed a simple flow. This play is written by Douglas James, it is an account of how Gerrard escaped the grip of a killer with the help of sheer wit and cleverness. The play begins with a structure that Gerrard is about to leave for rehearsal and at that very time, he encounters an intruder. Gerrard then finds himself in a complex condition and he went to convince the intruder to not kill him. The killer intended to steal Gerard’s identity to escape captivity.
However, Gerrard's quick thinking and smartness helped him escape this critical situation. He did not only manage to save himself from this situation he also was able to capture the criminal which unfolded the plot for his next play.
The mystery was created by Gerard so he could save his life from an intruder. Gerrard asked the intruder to meet people of different fields and to convert himself into some kind of mystery man who will be present one day and disappear the next day. The game became critical after things started to go south, as he murdered an individual and fled the crime scene.
However, one of his men got arrested and things got unfolded. This situation struck a chord for the intruder and he realized something was wrong and he needs to escape the spot.
The plot continues to unfold in such a manner that the intruder was planning to nab Gerrard, steal his identity and escape, and possibly in the process would have killed him. The intruder thought this through and convinced himself this is the only way to escape his captivity and his jail term.
He thought of this step because Gerrard looked identical and bore a strong resemblance to his face. He wanted to impersonate Gerrard to escape his crime and the police were chasing him.
Gerrard by profession is a playwright. Some of the instances in the play reflect his profession and some of them are mentioned below.
This is all very melodramatic, quite unoriginal, perhaps, but…
There it is, a sympathetic audience!
In most melodramas, the villain is fool enough to prolong his murder long enough to make it frustrating. You are quite lucky.
I said, you seem to be luckier than other melodramatic villains.
That’s quite a disguise outfit; fake moustaches and what not.
Sorry, I can't let you have the props before rehearsal, I've had a spot of uneasiness – it seems quite amusing. I think I'll use it in my next play.
In the course of the play, there were multiple instances where Gerrard said various lines that reflected upon his profession and how he has utilized every aspect of that field in the critical situation he was in and cool-headedly tackled the situation by picturing the situation as a play and how he would want it to unfold.
The above-mentioned line was uttered by Gerrard. He said this line when the intruder said, we’ll have a little talk about yourself. In this situation, he was not stressed at all and hence was being sarcastic towards the intruder.
Throughout the play, this line was uttered twice. This line was spoken for the first time when the intruder was revealing his plan to kill Gerrard. On the second instance, Gerrard said this line to the killer to present a fictitious character in front of the intruder.
The surprise that was mentioned was related to both the individual, in the case of the intruder, it was the plan of the intruder to kill Gerrard and steal his identity so he would not have to watch behind his back and could live a secure life thereon. Gerrard, however, spoke this line to reveal his fictitious identity to the intruder.
This line was spoken by the intruder out of desperation and determination at the same time. He wanted to be free of all costs even if it meant him killing another individual.
The speaker spoke of this because he was engaged in conversation with Gerrard and he said mentioned murdering a person. He also specified that he won't mind killing Gerrard as well, it would not affect his jail sentence and the life he was about to face if he got caught. He would be hanged twice for murdering two individuals.
These lines were spoken by Gerrard when he was trying to bluff the intruder. He said to imply that he was trying to escape after shooting someone. The speaker said these lines to make an impression in the mind of the intruder; he was trying to create a deception for the intruder as he was trying to escape this critical situation.
Q1. What were the features of Gerrard’s personality based on the play?
Ans. Gerard was a cool-headed person with rational thoughts. He is the kind of person who can hold his nerves even in the most complex situations. Gerrard is a clever person who could mince his words and play accordingly to deceive a cold-blooded criminal.
Q2. What were the features of the personality of the intruder?
Ans. The intruder in turn is a person who was desperate and wished to spend a good time. However desperate times call for desperate measures hence he tried to kill Gerrard. He is not a man of complex thought he is focused on one goal blindly and that is his freedom.
Q3. What was Gerrard’s role in the play?
Ans. Gerrard is the protagonist of the play. He is the owner of the house that was invaded by a criminal who wanted to take on Gerrard's identity to lead a safe life. Gerrard however calmly handled the situation and continued to deceive the intruder with various plots as the play continued. Throughout the play, he used his wit and fearlessness that in turn trapped the intruder in his net. It helped him escape his situation and live a safe life.
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