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The Baltimore Waltz: World of The Play 

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Allusion filled and delusional is the world of The Baltimore Waltz, created by Anna's mind in a time of grief, she summons a world in which she is allowed to experience her brother, a second chance place, One she can't differentiate from her on cataclysmic reality. 

Time: Although the play does not specify the year the play takes place we can safely assume it is 1988 as that is the year Carl passed away. Days and weeks are not specified during their fantasy trip, however if following the plot form of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” we can assume Vogels’ intent was to make the trip seem timeless to Anna, with the ending bringing her back to reality with the death of her brother. It is because of this that reveals the possibility that Carl is dead from the beginning of the play, or he dies at some time in the play. Like the Man in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” who died on the bridge.


Place: throughout the play we follow Carl and Anna on their journey through Europe. Carl wanting to spend time with her sister due to her ailment and Anna wanting to fulfill her lustful desires before she dies from ATD. They go through France, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, however they do never really leave the hospital room at John’s Hopskins in Baltimore. There a subtle hints throughout the play that this trip is fantasy like the characters all played by The Third Man; the fact that The Little Dutch Boy at 50 is a character as well as Harry Lime. We also get a huge hint during scene nineteen when we are seeing photos of their travels. Carl is narrating what we are supposed to be seeing, but in reality the photos are of various shots in Baltimore, MD and the John’s Hopkins Hospital.


Society: Society in the 1980s was strained, separated and fearful. Due to the AIDS epidemic, people’s disdain, disgust and prejudices against gay men grew. Gay men were afraid of backlash from the public, many were getting beaten up IN and out of hospitals for being gay. There was no trust in the government to find a cure. Groups like ACT UP were started to be the advocate for people with AIDs. These groups had to become familiar with medical terms, they had to know everything about HIV/AIDs in order to be able to fully represent those with AIDs and fight for them.

Economics:  Anna is worried about being able to afford Black Market Drugs as well as the entirety of the trip to Europe. It appears in the following dialogue that Carl is paying for the trip.

Anna: Oh, honey. Can we afford this?
Carl: It’s only money.
Anna It’s your money.
Carl: It’s our money.

With that last line, Carl reassures Anna on the trip.


Politics and Law:

Spirituality: During this time, faith was put into medicine, not the government officials, or the doctors because to a lot of people they had failed them in the search for a cure/medicine. People put their faith in scientific terms, medical books, diagrams and medical terms, because that was what was going to help to rid people of the disease. These things are true for Anna and Carl in the play. Anna states how the language terrifies her in scenes one and two. They also put all of their faith in a doctor in Vienna to help with Anna’s ATD because in America they were not doing enough.


Learning and The Arts: The many languages in the play that are being taught to Anna/Carl and ultimately to the audience is a big part of the Learning and Arts throughout the play. When Vogel wrote The Baltimore Waltz she figured, “What if my brother had taken me to Europe and I don’t speak any languages?” Carl, spoke six languages, so the language in the play appears to an Homage to Carl and his linguistic nature. There are also a number of artistic references and allusions throughout the play. Characters like The Third Man, Harry Lime and The Dutch Boy at age 50. Carl also visits a number of art museums, it is safe to assume that between Paula and her brother, Carl was the most “cultured” having visited other countries, learning six languages, being able to name paintings and their painters.