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http://www.jstor.org BECKETT'SPLAY,

BERNARD F. DUKORE

When the curtain rises on Samuel now a memory and seem absurd. Even Beckett's new play, called Play, we this recapitulation of the absurd events see, in a dim, dusky light-a glow that may eventually appear to be equally may resemble the grey that Clov tells absurd. "I know now," says the man, Hamm he sees when he looks at the "all that was just . . . play. And all ocean in -three grey urns, this? When will all this-" He is in- each about three feet high, each ex- terrupted as the spotlight moves from actly like the others. From the mouth him to the wife and then to the mis- of each urn protrudes a head: that of tress; when it returns to him he con- a man from the center urn, that of a tinues: "All this, when will all this woman from each of the others. When have been ... just play?" We feel com- a spotlight hits one of these faces it passion for three souls in torment; but starts talking, stopping when the in- we also laugh, for that which torments quisitorial light turns to another face. them is absurd. At the apparent con- Occasionally, all three faces are illumi- clusion of Play, we find the stage direc- nated at the same time. tions "Repeat play exactly." Since one be taken as The story they tell is that of the repetition may symbolic of can be familiar romantic triangle, and the char- numerous repetitions, there endless recollections of these acters are designated not in terms of events, individual identities but in terms of endless torment for the three partici- endless their roles in that triangle: M, Wi, and pants, absurdity. W2. The man (M) is or had been mar- One might evolve from this play an ried to the woman on his left (Wi). anti-Aristotelian aesthetic (which is also The woman on his right (W2) was once suggested, though to a lesser extent, his mistress. When the wife accused him by and Krapp's Last Tape). of adultery he first denied the charge, Play is not a tragedy but, as its subtitle then confessed, then remained with the indicates, "A Play." Tragedy, according wife, then went off with the mistress. to the Butcher translation of Aristotle's Now, he is no longer with the mistress; Poetics, is "the imitation of an action"; he has not returned to the wife; and Play is largely the memory of an action. each of the three speculates whether The action of tragedy is "serious, com- the other two might be together. Their plete, and of a certain magnitude"; the relationships, once so important, are action of Play is comic, incomplete (since it is repeated, it may therefore Bernard Dukore is a member of the Depart- be regarded as having begin- ment of Speech and Drama, Los Angeles State College, California. ning nor end), and of very little mag- EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL nitude. The spectacle of the three suf- nection with either of the preceding ferers trying to explain these events speeches-"Personally I always pre- (which appear to have little importance ferred Lipton's." The sentence, which to any but themselves) is not noble but seems to emerge from nowhere, pro- pitiful-pitiful and laughable. Tragedy vides a comic jolt. Upon examination, has "language embellished with each the reader discovers that the line refers kind of artistic ornament, the several to one of the man's previous speeches in kinds being found in separate parts of which he wonders whether the two the play"; Play's language, though rhyth- women might not now be drinking tea mic, is flat and unadorned. Tragedy is together. "in the form of action, not of narrative"; The characters, it seems, talk not to Play is narrative, not action. Tragedy each other but to the spotlight. When "through pity and fear [effects] the the spotlight is at full strength, they tell proper purgation of these emotions"; the events that the three have in com- in Play pity is minimal, fear is absent, mon. When the spotlight is at half its and we dwell on the absurdity of the usual strength (which it is at the start situation. of the play, shortly after which it comes to full intensity; then, almost halfway Each of the stories complements the through the play, it becomes dim again) others and their juxtaposition creates they speculate and try to make sense ironic and comic effects. At one point, of the events. Although the speeches for example, the man talks of truth and of each character may be connected to the mistress laughs. The strikes laugh those of the others, are us as a comment on the man's state- they independ- ent monologues. It would be useful to ment; but the mistress is not laughing examine the speeches of each character at him. Also, amusing linguistic con- as a monologue addressed to the prob- figurations emerge. The mistress quotes light, which we as the the wife: "I smell off him, she ing may regard you man it: an on and screamed, he stinks of bitch." The wife regards eye, turning off, for In then states that she hired a de- "Looking something. my private face. Some truth." tective to follow her husband: "I had The wife to be afraid of the him dogged for months a first-rate appears by she is disturbed the man"-and the husband later cor- truth; certainly by "Get off me!" she cries roborates this in a similar vein: "She prying light. several times, and one time, when the put a bloodhound on me." The wife light does no adds, puns, "he continued as . . . assiduous obey, (Vehement.) "Get off me!" For darkness would as ever" and comments that he had a her, be best; but since her isolation would "horror of the merely Platonic thing." be more complete with total darkness, Several times the wife says, "Get off then darkness would at the same time me." The initial impression, in per- be worse than even the "Hellish half- is to be that she is formance, likely quot- light." Still, the light torments her so ing herself when she spoke to the man. much that if "all [were] dark, then all When one reads the play, however, one [would be] well, for the time," since the realizes that she is addressing the spot- events which she repeats and repeats light. At another point, immediately would, she thinks, be "all over, wiped after the wife talks about trying to think out." As it is, she feels compelled to and the mistress speaks of seduction, search for the truth behind the events. the man states-with no apparent con- But she laments that she cannot find it, BECKETT'S PLAY, PLAY 21 complains that there is no sense even the light and with the attempts to in her efforts to do so, and hopes that make sense of the past. "Why go out?" the light will become "Weary of play- he sarcastically asks the light, which ing with me" and remove itself from moves away from him. "Why go down?" her face. It does not, and all she can he asks when it returns; and then it do is to return to the story exactly as moves away once more. When it returns she already told it. again he resumes with greater annoy- ance: not on at me As for the mistress, even though "Why keep glaring without ceasing? I might start to rave "some might say" that she is "a shade and- (hiccup) bring it up for you." gone, just a shade, in the head," she But he does not it He herself-after emitting a "faint wild "bring up." on the on and laugh"-claims, "I doubt it." She too speculates light going off, for the truth, and then, fears the penetrating light. "There are searching like the all he can do is to re- endurable moments," she tells it: those others, turn to the as he moments "When go out-and I go story exactly already you told it. out." But matters might become worse ("things may disimprove, there is that The light continues to probe. The danger"): the light might become characters continue to relate the events stronger ("You might get angry and of a portion of their lives. But-as be- blaze me clean out of my wits"). She fore-they do not find the "sense," the begs the light not to do so: "you must "truth" beneath the events, and, not know I am doing my best." Like the finding it, doubt that there is sense or wife, she can find no sense in the events truth to be found. For all their pre- and states that in trying to do so she occupation with themselves, they lack is making the mistake "of looking for self-perception. Since they do not have sense where possibly there is none." this perception, they recount only the She wishes she were a bit mad: "Am deeds but are unable to define the I not perhaps a little unhinged al- truth underlying them. They are there- ready? (Hopefully.) Just a little? fore dependent upon illumination pro- (Pause.) I doubt it." She must therefore vided by others, and the spotlight gives try again, though, like the wife, all she actual illumination while at the same can do is to return to the story exactly time offering the possibility of meta- as she already told it. phorical illumination. The man calls the spotlight a "mere eye," and asks, The man had assumed that his pres- "Am I as much as . . . being seen?" Al- ent state would be more peaceful and though the light disturbs all three, its that the painful events of the past glare nevertheless means that they can would be "not merely all over, but as be seen by another. Thus, though they if . . . never been." He too feels that are "Dying for dark," as the wife says, with darkness would come and peace, hoping that the questing light will stop he tries to convince himself that this probing, the absence of light would pre- "will come. Must come. There is peace vent their being seen, and so "the no future in this." But the light keeps darker the worse." The wife seems to returning to him. Like the two women, be at least partially aware of the para- he finds no sense in the events of the dox, for she adds, "Strange." The three past and wonders whether this search- are damned-in fact, the husband com- ing for sense may not be equally sense- pares his lot with those of the women, less. He appears to be impatient with whom he thinks are "blessed"-and 22 EDUCATIONAL THEATRE JOURNAL are in an existential from which is there, you'll see it, get off me, keep off me, all all all out- they can find no exit. dark, still, over, wiped A double movement is apparent. As and I have indicated earlier, Play is largely She was not convinced. I might have known. I the memory of events in the past, the smell her off you, she kept saying. There was revelation of which constitutes the no answer to this. So I took her in my arms and swore I could not live without her. I of an action. there memory However, meant it, what is more. Yes, I am sure I did. at is the same time-running parallel She did not repulse me. to that action-a present action: the are not for their literal mean- attempt to give the light what it is spoken but are read tone- seeking, the sense behind the past ings loudly, rapidly, events. The characters cannot fulfill lessly, without the conventional inflec- tions and and with a this action, and the resultant rhythm emphases, strongly that is is that of a vast effort expended toward emphasized rhythmic pattern from to The futility. The tension between these two repeated phrase phrase. effect of these more ac- movements creates in Play a quality speeches might be that is peculiar to all of Beckett's plays: curately conveyed by transcribing them in form and that stasis. In this play, past exterior action poetic noting there are two beats to the line and that between three people now exists as a short is to be taken after each memory-thus, it is interior within each line: separately. Forward action results in futility-thus, the action does not move Yes, strange, forward. Finally, both of the parallel darkness best, movements are the and the darker the worse, repeated-giving ap- till all dark, pearance of no movement other than etc. that which exists, confined, within an enclosed circle. and In however, most of this She was not convinced. performance, I have known. becomes might analysis secondary. I smell her off you, she kept saying. As I have described the play, it is There was no answer to this. etc. chiefly a recapitulation of a conven- tional story. But Beckett does not in- Words are used in the manner of a tend the actors to narrate their mem- musical instrument of limited range, ories to the audience in the orthodox such as a drum. of affective manner dramatic discourse. The dialogue of Play is spoken so Instead, they "face undeviatingly front rapidly and in a manner so lacking the throughout the play." Although they usual inflections that would occur in do not wear masks, their faces are "so ordinary discourse that the meaning of lost to age and aspect as to seem almost at least half of it is lost when we hear part of [the] urns" and are "impassive the words spoken on the stage. It should throughout." Their voices are toneless therefore be obvious that the words almost throughout and they speak in themselves as well as the details of the "Rapid tempo throughout." Thus, such story conveyed by these words are less speeches as important to Beckett than the theatri- cal mode It is the theatrical Yes, strange, darkness best, and the darker the employed. worse, till all dark, then all well, for the time, technique, rather than the literal mean- but it will come, the time will come, the thing ing of the dialogue, which more fully- BECKETT'S PLAY, PLAY and certainly more directly-is in- with more variety in such plays as The tended to convey the author's point. Bald Soprano, The Lesson, and Jacques. Beckett, on the other hand, is so in- If Beckett had been trying to tell us terested in the effects of that the story he could easily have done so repetition he uses the same and al- by having the actors speak more slowly rhythms lights most the entire and with normal inflections. However, exclusively throughout he has chosen not to do this. What he play.1 has chosen to do, what he has made When a viewing of the play on stage prominent, is what strikes us when we provides an experience of boredom and see the play in performance: three peo- annoyance, and a study of the printed ple trying to tell their story as soon as text provides an overwhelming experi- a light hits them, trying to get as much ence which increases upon each new of it out as they can-which means talk- perusal, one should at least try to re- ing as loudly and as rapidly as possible solve the contradiction. A possible ex- -before the light is extinguished or planation is that it is the unusual na- moves to someone else. Each appears to ture of the theatrical style which pro- be literally straining, physically in tor- vokes boredom and annoyance in the ment. We see and apprehend the futile spectator, and that these feelings will efforts of this damned trio-futile not disappear when, upon seeing the play only because there is no perception be- several times, he becomes more familiar neath their words, but also, and more with this style. Another possible solu- important in the context of perform- tion is that this style is a mistaken ar- ance, because we cannot entirely under- tistic choice-though it is the author stand the words themselves. We even who made the choice. Although Beckett laugh at some of the words we do under- has succeeded in wedding dramatic con- stand; the effort, as well as the story, tent and presentational style in Play, is absurd. I cannot help but wonder whether a di- The theatrical form of is a bril- vorce might have resulted in a more Play theatrical liant reflection of its content. However, satisfying experience. Having seen a faithful to Beckett's although Beckett's experiment is con- production intentions as indicated in the text (di- ducted successfully before the first five Devine for the minutes are over, it is continued for rected by George Eng- lish National I now look for- about fifteen minutes longer. Listening Theatre), ward to one which violates them to three actors using almost no variety seeing traditional, realistic meth- and talking too fast for more than ap- by employing ods of This conjecture needs proximately fifty per cent comprehen- acting. Nevertheless, despite my reser- sion may become (I found it to have testing. vations about the style of been the case) a bit wearisome after particular performance that the author indicates, the initial five minutes. A by-product I find Play to be a complex and sub- of this astonishing unity of form and stantial work which in stature up- content is therefore to strike the gains apt on each examination. spectator when he sees the play on stage: Beckett's devices are trickery. Although 1 This article is based on the production by unquestionably effective, they tend to the English National Theatre and the this edition of the text (Faber & Faber, I964). A sub- appear merely clever; appearance sequent printing of Plays in Evergreen Review is reinforced by the fact that Ionesco (December, I964) indicates minor variations not affecting observations or conclusions reached in used similar devices more sparingly and this article.