The first Hornby element in the script I'd like to talk about is rhythm in "Why Stay?" Diana speaks-asks-sings this twice to no music. As she begins to list off the problems she has, the piano is introduced, playing one solitary note at a time, slowly. When she wonders why Dan is still around, she quickens her pace, and the music lurches forward to catch up with her, playing faster and adding a frantic violin. Diana climbs up tonally as her anger and impatience rises. There are tiny moments of tension as Di hits a high note and holds it, kind of like a boiling point, before pressing forward. When Natalie joins in, it shows the common struggles they share with their counterparts. (I'm not even gonna get into this because Stephanie covers Diana/Natalie and Dan/Henry parallels here). The music Kitt composed here shows Di's frustrations with a pulsing drum undertone and power-punch rock feel.
The second element I'd like to focus on is sequence. In Act II, Dr. Madden, Dan, Di, and Natalie work through Di's memory loss issues with "Better Than Before". Di has trouble remembering some things like her wedding ring, but remembers not going to Natalie's swim meet. It's a very bittersweet scene, Di making progress so soon, but also realizing that Natalie has had a pretty shitty life and than Dan has also struggled a lot throughout their life. What immediately follows this song is Gabe's lament "Aftershocks". He warns that even though he's not in Di's memory anymore, he's still in her soul. This song, a critique of the ECT treatment to mental illness, begs the question of "What's worse?". Placing these two songs back to back is a unique juxtaposition of progression and handicap, success and failure. While the family is working to rebuild Di's memory, Gabe is fighting to regain his place.
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