If you are a child of divorce or have gone through a split yourself, more likely than not you understand the significance of those "special" objects--whether family heirlooms or dollar-store trinkets--that neither spouse can bear to part with, even if the marriage itself has long since ended.
Jennifer Morris, a member of New York-based theater company The Civilians, has lots of experience with these "contested objects," as she calls them. Or, more specifically, one "contested object" in particular--a Tiffany Lamp her parents are still fighting over 20 years after their divorce.
Last year, Morris approached three fellow members of the company, Matthew Maher, Caitlin Miller, and Robbie Collier Sublet, all children of divorce, to collaborate on a play about the evolution of their parents' marriages--from falling in love to falling out of love, and finally divorcing. The result is "You Better Sit Down: Tales From My Parents' Divorce," which is constructed around a series of candid interviews each actor conducted with his or her parent--whom each also plays in the show. It runs August 16-21 at Massachusetts' Williamstown Theater Festival.
To get the word out about the show and provide a forum for discussion, The Civilians launched a series of webisodes featuring scenes from the production.
Below, we invite you to continue the conversation. The images have been culled both from the actors in the play itself and from followers of the show who responded to the call by The Civilians for people to send images of their own "contested objects," as well as those of their parents. (Note: in instances where the actual objects were not available, photos of similar objects were submitted.)
Click through the slides below and tell us if you fought over any objects in your split by adding a slide to the mix!
