Sweet, Sweet Legacy!
A One-Act Play Satire about Family Dynamics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.9744/katakita.14.2.241-247Keywords:
Bowen family systems, Family dynamics, Growth and development, One-act playAbstract
This creative thesis aims to illustrate how family dynamics shape individuals’ base behaviors that would further determine their personal growth and development. The story goes with three siblings as main characters, Issa, Dru, and Ade, who mock their elder relatives for fighting over inheritance on the day of the burial of their late grandmother. This one-act play uses dramatic comedy. I use Bowen Family Systems theory in portraying family dynamics in my creative work. The family dynamics are passed down to Issa, Dru, and Ade through multigenerational transmission process, differentiation of self, sibling position, and nuclear family emotional process. The family dynamics shape Issa into a parentified child, Dru into an insolent middle child, and Ade into an emotionally avoidant child. This play underscores the importance of acknowledging the patterns and dynamics within ourselves that determine our growth and development.
References
Berlian, D. (2020). Going Home. Petra Little Theatre. (Original work published 2018).
Clark, L. (2007). Practical Playwriting: A Guide to Writing for the Stage. Pearson Education, Inc.
Gibson, L. C. (2015). Adult children of emotionally immature parents: how to heal if your parents couldn’t meet your emotional needs. New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
He Said and She Said - a one-act play by Alice Gerstenberg. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://www.one-actplays.com/comedies/he_said_and_she_said.html
Hill, C. W. (2012). Playwriting: from page to stage. Robert Hale.
Hubbard, R. L. (2017). Exploring Theater: Playwriting. Cavendish Square.
IoPT Norge- Institutt for Traumearbeid AS. (2019, August 11). Dr Gabor Maté: Transgenerational trauma, stressed environment and child’s diagnosis [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a13rn8Cduc
Jabbari, B., Schoo, C., & Rouster, A. S. (2023, September 16). Family dynamics. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. Retrieved November 14, 2025, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560487/
Kerr, M. E. (2019). One Family’s Story: A Primer on Bowen Theory. Georgetown Family Center.
Lestari, S. (2012). Psikologi Keluarga: Penanaman Nilai dan Penanganan Konflik dalam Keluarga. Prenadamedia Group.
Sieber, D. (n.d.). What are Family Dynamics?. MyWellbeing. Retrieved October 7, 2025, from https://mywellbeing.com/mental-health-dictionary/family-dynamics
Smiley, S. (2005). Playwriting: The Structure of Action. Yale University Press.
Vertel, A. V. (2023). The order of childbirth in the family and its influence on personality development (using the Psychoanalytic Pedagogy of Alfred Adler as an example). Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University Journal Рedagogical Sciences, 2(113), 28-37. DOI: 10.35433/pedagogy.2(113).2023.28-37
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ellara Yusea Ananda, Jenny Mochtar

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).












