Pain and Violence in Three Contemporary English Plays

T. C. İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı Bilim Dalı Yüksek Lisans Tezi Pain and Violence in Three Contemporary English Plays ÖZLEM KARADA Ğ 2501050048 TEZ DANI ŞMANI YRD. DOÇ. DR. CANAN ŞAVKAY İSTANBUL 2008 Pain and Violence in Three Contemporary English Plays Özlem Karada ğ ÖZ Bu çalı şmanın amacı, 20. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında tiyatroda ortaya çıkan Absürd tiyatro, Politik tiyatro ve politik sonrası olarak adlandırılan “in-yer-face” akımlarının önemli örnekleri olan Samuel Beckett’in Endgame , Edward Bond’un Lear ve Anthony Neilson’ın Penetrator ba şlıklı oyunlarında şiddet ve acı ö ğelerinin kullanılı şını incelemektir. Şiddet ve acı üzerine kuramların ve 19. ve 20. yüzyıl dü şünürlerinin görü şlerinin uygulanmasıyla, daha önceki tiyatro akımlarının aksine, 20. yüzyıl tarihi arka planının da etkisiyle, şiddetin sahnede giderek görünür hale geldi ği, oyun ki şilerinin birbirleriyle gergin ve öfke dolu ili şkilerinin oldu ğu ve karakterlerin ba şkalarına acı çektirmekle beraber, acı çeken ki şi konumunda oldukları ortaya çıkmaktadır. iii Pain and Violence in Three Contemporary English Plays Özlem Karada ğ ABSTRACT This study purports to trace the use of violence and pain in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame , Edward Bond’s Lear , and Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator which are the important examples of the movements that arose in the second half of the twentieth century; the Theatre of the Absurd, Political Theatre and “in-yer-face” which is also called post-political theatre. With the application of theories on violence and pain, and under the light of the thoughts of nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers it is revealed that violence, contrary to older movements in drama, with the contribution of the historical background of the twentieth century, gets gradually visible on the stage, the relationships between characters are tense and full of frustration, and as well as making others suffer, the characters themselves are also the ones who suffer. iv PREFACE This study covers the close analysis of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame , Edward Bond’s Lear , and Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator , and focuses on the idea of violence and pain in these plays. What I try to clarify in this study is the change in the tone of drama and use of violence and the demonstration of the human situation after the Second World War. It can be seen from both each play’s own development and the chronological development we are tracing through these three plays that violence gets more and more dominant in theatre after World War II, and symbols of aggression, frustration and violence haunt the texts from the beginning to the end. And the characters in the plays depict the human situation in modern times; they show that the old values are no longer valid while a new system of crueller values is being constructed. The characters carry the burden of their past. As they are indifferent to their own present condition, they are also indifferent to that of the world. Yet they go through a suffering which grows everyday. This thesis consists of three parts; each in itself breaks into two. After an introduction on violence, its use in the theatre before the twentieth century and the changes in the drama of the second half of the last century comes Chapter I. The first part of this chapter covers the historical background after World War II and its effects in drama of the times: the Theatre of the Absurd. The second part traces the use of aggression and suffering as a never-ending process in Beckett’s Endgame . The first part of Chapter II discusses the birth of political theatre and the use of violence in the plays of the political theatre. The second part covers Edward Bond’s Lear, and the use of political violence, torture and power struggle which causes pain and also makes innocent ones suffer. Chapter III which is the last chapter of this thesis is written on a very contemporary movement in theatre; “in-yer-face”. The first part of this chapter tries to explain the aims of “in-yer-face”, the employment of violence and pain in the plays of this genre while the second part focuses on Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator and studies the suppressed desires and memories of the characters, which reveal themselves in violent acts. The use of filthy language and seemingly reasonless physical violence reveal the unconscious memories and desires and the traumatized present lives which cause unbearable pain in the characters. v Finally, the conclusion gathers up the results collected from the close study of each play. It is a pleasure to present my hearty thanks to all the members of my department, the English Language and Literature, for their support. To whom I owe most is my supervisor Assist. Prof. Canan Şavkay I thank her a lot for her suggestions, advices, comments and guidance through the process of this work. I am grateful to Prof. Zeynep Ergun, for her support, encouragement, and sympathy especially in my times of desperation, and for supplying me with various ideas and sources. I am also grateful to Assoc. Prof. Murat Seçkin who always gave me courage about my thesis work, gave me new ideas, shared his knowledge and supplied me with plays to read, and hearty laughs. I thank Prof. Esra Meliko ğlu and Assist. Prof. Arpine Mızıkyan for their affection, support, and their continual interest in the progress of my thesis. I also thank Assoc. Prof. Özden Sözalan for her precious help in my thesis work with her ideas and sources that she supplied me with. I also thank Buket Akgün, who was always supportive and helpful through this period. I also thank my friends those who were understanding and supportive through all this time. My special thanks are due to my true friend Suna Yılmazer who helped me a lot in my research, she was always positive, encouraging, and she never lost her belief in me. I am also grateful to my house mates Nilay and Zeynep for their understanding, their patience and for filling me with liveliness, happiness and energy whenever I feel desperate. I thank my mom and dad for supporting me to create a room of my own which also helped me to keep myself sane, and finally I thank my little sister, Gizem, who was always there for me, and with great understanding helped me to study, always supported me and never let me lose my belief in myself. vi CONTENTS Öz………...……………………………………………………………………….iii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………iv Foreword…………………………………………………………………………..v Contents…………………………………………………………………………...vii List of Illustrations………………………………………………………………...viii Introduction………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1: Aggression and Suffering in a World of Desolation: Samuel Beckett’s Endgame 1.1. The Rise of the Theatre of the Absurd……………………………..11 1.2. Aggression and Suffering in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame ………...20 Chapter 2: The Use of Violence as a Political Device, Through a More Cruel Society: Edward Bond’s Lear 2.1. Political Theatre……………………………………………………46 2.2. Political Violence, Epidemic Cruelty and Pain in Edward Bond’s Lear …………………………………………… 53 Chapter 3: Personal Problems, Repression and Violence in a Decade of Trauma: Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator 3.1. The So-called Post-Political Theatre or “In-yer-face”……………..73 3.2. Verbal and Physical Violence and Traumatic Past Memories in Anthony Neilson’s Penetrator …………………81 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...102 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………108 Illustrations………………………………………………………………………..115 vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1. Ellie Kurttz, Hitomi Manaka in Ninagawa Company’s Titus Andronicus .............................................................................................................115 Fig. 2. Tom Holte, Image from Titus Andronicus , Royal Shakespeare Company………………………………………………………………………….115 Fig. 3. Manuel Harlan, Image from King Lear , Royal Shakespeare Company… 116 Fig. 4. Donald Cooper, Image from King Lear , Peter Hall Company…………...116 Fig. 5. Image from Waiting for Godot ………………………………………….. 117 Fig. 6. Dana Adams, Image from Waiting for Godot , Waterfront Theatre…….. 117 Fig. 7. John Haynes, Image from Happy Days …………………………………. 118 Fig. 8. Kirk Markley, Image from Happy Days , Infernal Bridegroom Productions………………………………………………………………………. 118 Fig. 9. Stage design model for Endgame by Samuel Beckett at Villanova Theatre…………………………………………………………………………… 119 Fig. 10. Image from Endgame by Samuel Beckett at Villanova Theater……….. 119 Fig. 11. Image from Endgame , Phoenix Theatre………………………………....120 Fig. 12. Image from Endgame , Phoenix Theatre…………………………………120 Fig. 13. Donald Cooper, Image from Edward Bond’s Saved , The Royal Court Theatre…………………………………………………………………………….121 Fig. 14. Catherine Ashmore, Image from Bond’s Lear , Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre…………………………………………………………………………….121 Fig. 15. Image from Bond’s Lear , The Royal Court Theatre…………………….122 Fig. 16. Image from Penetrator , The American Place Theatre…………………..123 Fig. 17. Image from Penetrator …………………………………………………..124 viii INTRODUCTION Violence itself is hardly new. The Greeks, Romans, Seneca, Kyd, Shakespeare in Titus Andronicus , Webster – all have numerous murders, mutilations, and rapes. 1 Sanja Nikcevic makes such a comment in her article “British Brutalism, the ‘New European Drama’, and the Role of the Director”, while she is criticising the new born drama in Britain in 1990s 2. Her words also reveal the aim of this study on the use of violence and pain in contemporary British drama, for neither violence, nor pain is a new theme in theatre. Since the drama of the Ancient Greeks, plays include events or scenes of violence, comprising torture, rape scenes, and demonstrate the physical or psychological suffering derived from these factors. However, depending on the period, conditions and the tradition of theatre change the use of violence and suffering on stage. Aristotle, the forefather of drama theory, in his Poetics, divides the plot of a play into three, and the last part is the “Scene of Suffering”: Two parts, then, of the Plot-Reversal of the Situation and Recognition- turn upon surprises. A third part is the Scene of Suffering. The Scene of Suffering is a destructive or painful action, such as death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds, and the like.

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