The Breathing Corpses by Laura Wade

 Introduction: “The Breathing Corpses” is a 2005 play by British playwright Laura Wade that explores the effects of death and discovery on three interconnected strangers. The story unfolds in reverse, following Amy the chambermaid, Jim the storage owner, and Kate the walker after they each encounter a dead body. The play won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright for Wade and premiered at the Royal Court. Receiving three awards, it was nominated for an ‘Olivier Award’ for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

Characters

• Amy: A hotel chambermaid who finds a body on the job. 
• Jim: A storage unit owner who discovers a dismembered body, leading to his subsequent suicide. 
• Kate: A woman who stumbles upon a corpse during her morning walk. 

Stage Setting and Properties: The initial scene is set in a hotel room, where the lovely chambermaid Amy discovers the body of a guest who has committed suicide. The Back Room of the Star is a fine venue for intimate theatre. All is black, as it serves also as a music venue. A dark curtain formed the backdrop. A bed emerged from this for the hotel room scene. Chambermaid Amy’s cleaning materials container, her rubber gloves, and a chair were all else. For Jim’s container business office, 2 chairs were produced and a small desk. For the scene in Kate’s kitchen the same furniture was placed somewhere else. A door was lugged about in one scene, and a fine, superbly crafted kitchen knife made its presence felt in the final scene. Some very evocative music set the scene, and accompanied the scene changes. Lighting was very effective throughout.

Chambermaid Amy entered the hotel room with her box of cleaning materials, rubber gloves at the ready, to discover a corpse in the bed.  She was therefore shocked, but not too shocked, and sat down to have a heart-to-heart talk with the dead man about her fears of the sack, her rather nondescript life, about his life, and what might have brought him to this distressing end. She made no attempt to summons the hotel manager, and found herself guiltily reading his rather nice, unsealed suicide note, which mentioned something about a woman in a box.

Then the scene moves backward on to a self-storage company’s premises. Jim, the owner, was chatting to his assistant Rachel when his nice wife Elaine appeared. Suffering despondency due to ‘empty nest’ syndrome and lack of any meaningful occupation, she apologised for turning up at the office. They seemed a nice couple living a fairly humdrum existence. Rachel pointed out the smell coming from one of the containers. A phone call was to be made.

Later the scene moves further backward to a couple of months to show the kitchen of workaholic, abrasive Kate, who lives with her younger partner Ben and his, in her opinion, horrid dog. She was frantically trying to catch up with work missed the previous day, as she’d been at the police station, the dog having discovered the corpse of a young woman lying behind a bush. The dog barking incessantly for attention, she kicked it hard, twice, so hard that blood flowed. The returning Ben was furious. Sparks flew, yet attraction remained, it seemed.  A curious relationship. Melissa Pearce and Jez Gooding attacked their roles with gusto, they also made a believable pair, painful to watch.

We then moved forward in time, to Jim’s garage weeks after the opening of the box from which the foul smell had come. A dead woman had been found inside. Jim was a total wreck, busying himself with dismantling all the doors in the house, and quite unable to return to work. His dear wife Elaine did not know how to help him, other than to fetch his pills from the chemist. Rachel popped by, she couldn’t help either. Jim just disintegrated before our eyes.

Great relief was felt at first when we found ourselves back in the hotel with Amy on her morning round. Once more a body in the bed, only this one is alive. This was travelling salesman Charlie, charismatic, attractive, but with wild eyes. He charmed Amy, we began to feel concerned. Even more so when he produced a fine, expensive kitchen knife in a black box, one of his samples, he said. She agreed to meet him for a walk in the park the next morning.  This play is full of tension, one felt continuously uneasy. There was humour too.

 Structure and Themes

• Reverse Structure:

The play's narrative structure works backward from the moment of discovery, gradually revealing the events that led to the death. 

• Impact of Death:

Breathing Corpses examines the psychological and relational impact of encountering death, particularly on people whose lives are dramatically altered by it. 

• Mortality and Morality:

The play delves into how characters grapple with their own mortality and the ethical questions raised by their macabre discoveries. 

Significance  

• “The Breathing Corpses” is considered a "powerful new play" that is both "delicate yet brutal" in its depiction of death and its consequences.
• The play's structure and its exploration of the unsettling aspects of mortality have been praised by critics.

British Drama (Short Questions and Answers)

 

Short Questions and Answers:

Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

1.     Who wrote Doctor Faustus?
Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan playwright and contemporary of William Shakespeare, wrote the play.

2.     What was the inspiration for the play?
It is based on German stories about a scholar named Faust who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for magical power and knowledge. 

3.     Why does Faustus sell his soul?
Faustus is a highly respected scholar but has grown dissatisfied with the limitations of human knowledge in fields like logic, medicine, and theology. Seeking greater power and insight, he turns to necromancy.

4.     What are the terms of the pact?
Faustus makes a pact with Lucifer to exchange his soul for 24 years of magical power and service from the demon Mephistophilis.

5.     What does Faustus use his powers for?
After gaining his powers, Faustus squanders them on petty and frivolous acts, such as playing tricks on the Pope and conjuring famous figures like Alexander the Great and Helen of Troy. 

6.     Who is Mephistophilis?
Mephistophilis is the demon summoned by Faustus who serves as his attendant for 24 years. Though a servant of Lucifer, he shows regret and warns Faustus about the misery of being separated from God.

7.     Who are the Good Angel and the Evil Angel?
These two figures represent the internal struggle within Faustus, acting as personifications of his conscience and temptation, respectively.

8.     What is the role of Helen of Troy?
Faustus summons Helen of Troy near the end of the play to distract himself from thoughts of repentance. She symbolizes the worldly beauty and pleasure that have seduced him away from salvation. 

9.     What are the main themes of the play?
Doctor Faustus explores the consequences of overreaching ambition, the conflict between medieval and Renaissance values, and the struggle between good and evil.

10.  What is Faustus's tragic flaw?
His tragic flaw is hubris, or excessive pride. His arrogance prevents him from fully understanding the consequences of his actions and leads him to reject multiple opportunities for repentance.

11.  What is the significance of the character Wagner?
Wagner, Faustus's servant, offers comic relief and reflects his master's fascination with magic on a smaller scale, providing a parallel to Faustus's own ambition. 

12.  What happens in the climax of the play?
In his final hours, Faustus expresses intense fear and regret over his choices, but he is unable to sincerely repent before his time runs out.

13.  How does the play end?
At the stroke of midnight, devils drag Faustus's soul to hell. The chorus reflects on the moral lesson of his damnation, warning the audience against intellectual ambition without moral boundaries.

14.  What is the meaning of the words "Homo fuge" ("Fly, O man!") on Faustus's arm?
After signing his contract with blood, this Latin phrase appears on his arm, serving as a final warning for him to flee from his pact. Faustus, however, disr1egards the sign.

 

The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd

1.     Who wrote The Spanish Tragedy?
Thomas Kyd, an Elizabethan dramatist, wrote the play sometime between 1582 and 1592.

2.     How did The Spanish Tragedy influence later drama?
It is considered the first English revenge tragedy and significantly influenced the genre, including Shakespeare's Hamlet, by introducing conventions like a revenge-seeking ghost and a play-within-a-play. 

3.     How does the play begin?
The play begins with the ghost of Don Andrea, a Spanish nobleman killed in battle by the Portuguese prince Balthazar, and the personification of Revenge. The two act as a chorus, observing and commenting on the events.

4.     What is the central conflict?
The main plot centers on Hieronimo, the Knight-Marshal of Spain, who seeks justice for the brutal murder of his son, Horatio.

5.     What prevents Hieronimo from getting official justice?
His son's murderers are Lorenzo, the King's nephew, and Balthazar, the captured Prince of Portugal. Their high social status and Lorenzo's machinations prevent Hieronimo from receiving justice through legal channels. 

6.     Who is Hieronimo?
He is the protagonist and the father of the murdered Horatio. Driven mad by grief and frustrated by the lack of official justice, he eventually takes revenge into his own hands.

7.     Who is Bel-Imperia?
She was Don Andrea's lover and later Horatio's. She assists Hieronimo in his revenge plot, partly to avenge Andrea's death.

8.     Who is Lorenzo?
The antagonist of the play. He is Bel-Imperia's scheming brother and one of Horatio's murderers. He manipulates events and people to cover up his crime.

9.     Who is Balthazar?
The Prince of Portugal who killed Don Andrea and, with Lorenzo, murdered Horatio. He is a prisoner in the Spanish court and is scheduled to marry Bel-Imperia for a political alliance. 

10.  What is the play-within-a-play?
To enact his revenge, Hieronimo writes and stages a play for the court. During the performance, he, along with Bel-Imperia, kills Lorenzo and Balthazar using real daggers instead of props.

11.  What happens after Hieronimo reveals the murders?
After exposing the truth, Hieronimo bites out his own tongue to prevent himself from being tortured into confessing more. He then stabs the Duke of Castile (Lorenzo's father) before killing himself.

12.  How does the play conclude for the characters?
At the play's conclusion, Andrea's ghost expresses satisfaction that his enemies have been justly punished in death and appointed to an eternity of torment in the underworld. 

13.  What is the main theme of the play?
The play's central theme is revenge, exploring the moral and psychological consequences of pursuing personal vengeance in a corrupt world.

14.  How is madness portrayed?
Hieronimo's descent into madness is a key theme, showing how his grief and the lack of official justice push him to a mental breaking point.

15.  What is the role of justice in the play?
The play explores the conflict between flawed human justice (which fails Hieronimo) and the more absolute, but also more brutal, private revenge. 

All for Love by John Dryden

1.     Who wrote All for Love?
John Dryden wrote the play, subtitled The World Well Lost, in 1677. He was England's first official Poet Laureate.

2.     What was the inspiration for the play?
It is a retelling and neoclassical adaptation of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.

3.     What is the play's historical context?
As a Restoration-era play, it reflects the political shifts following the English Civil War and the reign of King Charles II. It often comments on the dangers of civil unrest.

4.     What is "neoclassicism"?
Neoclassicism in this play refers to Dryden's adherence to classical dramatic principles, such as the unities of time, place, and action. Unlike Shakespeare's version, the entire play takes place in one day in one setting. 

5.     What is the central plot?
The play dramatizes the final day of the lovers Marc Antony and Cleopatra. It focuses on their relationship and internal conflicts rather than the broader geopolitical conflict between Rome and Egypt.

6.     Who are the main characters?

Marc Antony: A Roman general torn between his love for Cleopatra and his sense of duty to Rome.

Cleopatra: The Queen of Egypt and Antony's lover, who is desperate to hold on to his affection.

Octavia: Antony's Roman wife, who represents duty, honor, and loyalty.

Ventidius: Antony's loyal Roman general, who tries to persuade Antony to leave Cleopatra and return to his Roman honor.

Alexas: Cleopatra's eunuch and advisor, who manipulates her to maintain his own influence.

7.     What is Antony's main conflict?
Antony is internally conflicted between his passion for Cleopatra and his honor as a Roman. His indecisiveness drives the action and leads to his tragedy. 

8.     What is the central theme?
The play's central theme is the conflict between passion and honor. It explores the destructive nature of unrestrained, unbounded love.

9.     How does the play depict love?
Dryden portrays love as a powerful, irrational force that can overwhelm reason and societal norms. While Antony and Cleopatra's love is illicit and deceptive in a way, their commitment to it defines them.

10.  How does the play treat the theme of friendship?
Friendship is shown as a crucial force. Ventidius's genuine loyalty to Antony contrasts with the deceitful "friendship" of Alexas towards Cleopatra. 

11.  What drives the play toward its climax?
Alexas deceives Antony by telling him that Cleopatra is dead. In his despair, Antony stabs himself.

12.  How does Antony die?
Upon learning of Cleopatra's (supposed) death, a remorseful Antony falls upon his sword.

13.  How does Cleopatra die?
After Antony dies, a grieving Cleopatra decides to join him. To avoid being paraded as a captive in Rome, she has a poisonous asp bite her and dies on her throne.

14.  How does the play conclude?
The play concludes with the tragic deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, united in death despite the political chaos they caused. The ending emphasizes their devotion to each other above all else, including life itself. 

The Way of the World by William Congreve

1.     Who wrote The Way of the World?
William Congreve, a Restoration-era playwright, wrote the play in 1700.

2.     What is the historical context of the play?
It was written during England's Restoration period (1660–1700), a time known for its focus on social status, wit, and money. The play satirizes the manners and morals of London's upper-class society.

3.     Why was the play initially a commercial failure?
It is believed the audience of the time found the witty and cynical dialogue to be too bawdy and perhaps too pointed in its satire of their own customs. 

4.     What is the central plot of the play?
The plot revolves around the lovers Mirabell and Millamant, who wish to marry and receive Millamant's inheritance. To do so, they must overcome the obstacle presented by Millamant's formidable aunt, Lady Wishfort, who despises Mirabell.

5.     What is Mirabell's main scheme?
Mirabell devises a plan to trick Lady Wishfort into agreeing to his marriage with Millamant. He arranges for his servant Waitwell to disguise himself as "Sir Rowland" and court Lady Wishfort, with the intent of later exposing the fraud to blackmail her.

6.     What is the "proviso scene"?
This famous scene is the witty negotiation between Mirabell and Millamant, where they agree on the terms of their marriage, including maintaining their individual freedoms within the marriage. 

7.     Who is Mirabell?
Mirabell is the handsome and witty protagonist who desires to marry Millamant. He is a "reformed rake," a character who was once promiscuous but is now sincere in his love.

8.     Who is Millamant?
Millamant is the clever, independent-minded, and beautiful heiress. Her reputation and her large fortune make her highly sought after by multiple suitors.

9.     Who is Lady Wishfort?
Lady Wishfort is Millamant's wealthy and vain aunt. She is an antagonist who opposes Mirabell's marriage to her niece, especially after discovering Mirabell once pretended to love her.

10.  Who are Fainall and Mrs. Fainall?
Fainall is Lady Wishfort's son-in-law, who is having an affair with Mrs. Marwood. Mrs. Fainall, Lady Wishfort's daughter, was once Mirabell's lover and now secretly hates her husband.

11.  Who is Mrs. Marwood?
Mrs. Marwood is Fainall's mistress and a friend of Lady Wishfort's. She is motivated by her unrequited love for Mirabell and seeks to destroy him and Millamant. 

12.  What are the main themes of the play?
The play explores themes of love, marriage, wit, wealth, and deception. It satirizes the mercenary nature of marriage in high society, where financial gain and social status often take precedence over genuine affection.

13.  How does the play treat the theme of marriage?
Marriage is portrayed as a business arrangement rather than a romantic union. Congreve exposes the hypocrisy of societal expectations surrounding marriage by showing characters who marry for money, status, or to settle debts.

14.  What is the role of "wit" in the play?
Wit, or cleverness and intellectual acuity, is highly valued and used as a tool for social survival. Mirabell and Millamant's superior wit allows them to navigate the intricate social world and outsmart their opponents. 

15.  How does Mirabell ultimately triumph?
When Fainall tries to blackmail Lady Wishfort using evidence of Mrs. Fainall's past affair with Mirabell, Mirabell reveals a document. This document proves that Mrs. Fainall's fortune was legally signed over to him before she married Fainall, effectively leaving Fainall powerless and saving everyone from ruin.

16.  How does the play resolve the romantic plots?
Mirabell successfully wins Millamant's hand. In a secondary plot, Millamant's fortune is secured with the promise of her marriage to her cousin, Sir Wilfull, but she ultimately marries Mirabell after her inheritance is secured through the defeat of Fainall's plot. 

 

Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw

1.     Who wrote Arms and the Man?
George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright and co-founder of the London School of Economics, wrote the play.

2.     What was the inspiration for the play?
The play is set during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War. Shaw uses this backdrop to criticize romanticized ideas of war and heroism.

3.     What is the meaning of the play's title?
The title is an ironic reference to the opening line of Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid. Shaw uses it to mock romantic ideals about war. 

4.     Who is Raina Petkoff? A wealthy Bulgarian woman who begins the play with a romantic view of love and war. Her illusions are shattered throughout the play.

5.     What is Raina's relationship with Sergius at the beginning of the play? She is engaged to Sergius, whom she sees as a war hero.

6.     Who is Captain Bluntschli? A Swiss mercenary soldier in the Serbian army. He is practical and experienced.

7.     Why is he called the "chocolate-cream soldier"? He carries chocolates instead of ammunition.

8.     Who is Sergius? A Bulgarian cavalry officer who becomes a national hero after a reckless charge at the Battle of Slivnitza.

9.     What is his attitude toward love and war? He holds romantic ideals of war but is disillusioned with it. He openly flirts with Louka despite being engaged to Raina.

10.  Who is Louka? The Petkoff family's ambitious servant.

11.  What is her motivation? She resents her social status and tries to improve it.

12.  Who is Nicola? The manservant in the Petkoff household. He accepts the social hierarchy. 

13.  What are the main themes of Arms and the Man?

Idealism vs. Realism: The play critiques how characters romanticize war and love, contrasting these illusions with the pragmatic reality of experienced soldiers and true emotions.

The absurdity of war: Shaw uses Bluntschli to expose the foolishness of glorifying war and the disconnect between military rhetoric and the brutal reality.

Class and social status: The play satirizes the Bulgarian aristocracy and shows how characters can rise or fall based on ability rather than birth.

14.  How does the play resolve the romantic conflicts?

The truth of everyone's deception is revealed.

Sergius and Raina break off their engagement.

Sergius proposes to Louka.

Bluntschli inherits wealth and the Petkoffs approve of him as a suitor for Raina. Raina accepts his proposal.

15.  What happens to Nicola at the end?
Bluntschli offers Nicola a job managing his family's hotels

 

Society by T.W. Robertson

1.     Who wrote Society?
The play was written by Thomas William "T. W." Robertson, an English playwright of the Victorian era.

2.     What was significant about Robertson's approach to the play?
Robertson's play was considered groundbreaking for its time, as it was a "milestone in Victorian drama because of its realism in sets, costume, acting and dialogue".

3.     How did this play differ from other Victorian plays?
Society marked a shift away from melodrama and toward a more realistic portrayal of everyday life. Robertson was one of the first directors to stress ensemble acting over the performance of a single star. 

4.     What is the central plot of Society?
The play follows a young gentleman named Sidney Daryl who, despite his good family name, lacks wealth. He must navigate the complexities of social status and money to be with the woman he loves, Maud Hetherington.

5.     How does Sidney Daryl lose his fortune?
He gives up what is left of his inheritance to help his profligate brother save the family estate.

6.     What is the primary obstacle to Sidney and Maud's relationship?
Maud's aunt, the aristocratic and money-conscious Lady Ptarmigant, opposes her marrying the now-penniless Sidney. 

7.     Who is Sidney Daryl?
The protagonist, a well-born but impoverished barrister who seeks to make his way in the world without compromising his integrity.

8.     Who is Maud Hetherington?
Sidney's love interest, who is torn between her feelings for him and her aunt's pressure to marry for money.

9.     Who is Lady Ptarmigant?
Maud's aunt, an impoverished but status-obsessed aristocrat who represents the hypocrisy and pretensions of high society.

10.  Who is John Chodd, Jr.?
A wealthy but vulgar man from the nouveau riche class. He attempts to use his money to buy his way into high society and tries to win Maud's hand. 

11.  What are the main themes of Society?
The play explores themes of class conflict, social climbing, and the value of integrity versus wealth. It satirizes the artificiality of high society.

12.  How does the play comment on the conflict between old money and new money?
The play contrasts the established but financially struggling aristocracy (represented by Lady Ptarmigant and Sidney) with the unsophisticated, newly rich middle class (represented by the Chodds). It asserts the superiority of the aristocratic class, which values integrity over pure wealth. 

13.  How do Sidney and Maud eventually reconcile?
Through a series of comedic mishaps and revelations, Maud learns of Sidney's honorable character and the truth behind his actions. An intervention by Lord Ptarmigant also helps expose the honorable truth of Sidney's past. She ultimately rejects the offer from John Chodd, Jr.

14.  How does Sidney ultimately regain his financial standing and social status?
Sidney wins a seat as an MP for his hometown. His brother later dies, making him the heir to the family estate and restoring his wealth.

15.  What is the final outcome for Sidney and Maud?
With his fortune and reputation restored, Sidney and Maud are free to marry and live happily ever after. 

 

The Wild Duck by Henrik Isben

1.     Who wrote The Wild Duck?
The play was written by Henrik Ibsen, a Norwegian playwright, in 1884.

2.     What was significant about The Wild Duck?
It is considered a major work of modern realist drama and a shift in Ibsen's style from social criticism to a more complex psychological exploration.

3.     What was Ibsen's intention for the play?
Ibsen labeled the play a "tragicomedy," blending elements of both humor and profound tragedy. 

4.     What sets the play's action in motion?
Gregers Werle returns to his hometown after 15 years and becomes involved with the lives of his old friend, Hjalmar Ekdal, and his family.

5.     What is the "ideal demand"?
This is Gregers Werle's core belief that people should live their lives according to perfect, uncompromising ideals, and he attempts to force this on others.

6.     What secret does Gregers uncover and reveal?
He learns that Hjalmar's wife, Gina, had a relationship with Gregers's father, Hakon Werle, and that Hjalmar's daughter, Hedvig, is likely Hakon's illegitimate child.

7.     How does the play end?
After Gregers reveals the truth, Hjalmar rejects Hedvig. The heartbroken Hedvig, trying to prove her love for Hjalmar, kills herself with a pistol. 

8.     Who is Gregers Werle?
The son of a wealthy industrialist, Gregers is an uncompromising idealist who meddles in the lives of the Ekdal family.

9.     Who is Hjalmar Ekdal?
An aspiring but self-deluded inventor and photographer who maintains a fragile, happy life built on a foundation of lies and illusions.

10.  Who is Gina Ekdal?
Hjalmar's wife, who is pragmatic and manages the family business and household. She hides the truth about Hedvig's parentage to preserve the family's fragile peace.

11.  Who is Hedvig Ekdal?
Hjalmar and Gina's sensitive and loving daughter. Her fate is tied to the wild duck, and she is ultimately destroyed by Gregers's "ideal demand".

12.  Who is Dr. Relling?
A cynical and realistic doctor who believes in protecting people's "life-lies"—the illusions that give them meaning. He opposes Gregers's destructive idealism. 

13.  1What does the wild duck symbolize?
The wild duck symbolizes the characters who are wounded and brought down by life but find refuge in a "life-lie" or an illusion that allows them to survive.

14.  What are some of the play's main themes?

The danger of idealism: Gregers's pursuit of "the truth" ultimately destroys the Ekdal family, proving that honesty can sometimes be more harmful than lies.

Reality vs. illusion: The play examines the importance of illusions, or "life-lies," for human happiness and survival.

The sins of the father: The actions of Hakon Werle in the past, including his business scandal and affair with Gina, have a devastating impact on the next generation.

 

The Caretaker by Harold Pinter

1.     Who wrote The Caretaker?
Harold Pinter, a British playwright, wrote the play in 1960.

2.     What theatrical style is it associated with?
It is a prime example of the Theatre of the Absurd, a style defined by illogical events, fragmented dialogue, and a sense of existential uncertainty.

3.     What was the historical context of the play?
The play was written and set in the postwar, post-Blitz London of the 1950s. The urban decay and social tensions of the period influenced the play's themes. 

4.     How does the play begin?
The play begins when Aston, a man with a history of mental health issues, brings a homeless man named Davies back to his dilapidated flat.

5.     What is the central conflict?
The play's central conflict revolves around the shifting alliances and power struggles between the three characters: the brothers Aston and Mick, and the tramp, Davies.

6.     What "job" is offered to Davies?
Both Aston and Mick, at different times, offer Davies the job of caretaker for the flat, but neither offer is ever finalized.

7.     What leads to Davies's final expulsion?
Davies's ingratitude, belligerence, and insulting remarks about Aston's past mental health treatment lead the brothers to reject him and throw him out. 

8.     Who is Aston?
A quiet, withdrawn man with a past of institutionalization and electroshock treatment. He attempts to help Davies out of loneliness but is ultimately betrayed.

9.     Who is Mick?
Aston's more aggressive and volatile younger brother. He alternates between menacing Davies and proposing elaborate business schemes to him, testing and manipulating him throughout the play.

10.  Who is Davies (Bernard Jenkins)?
An elderly, garrulous, and ungrateful tramp who uses various aliases. He is constantly making excuses and is obsessed with retrieving his "papers" from a distant town. 

11.  What are the main themes of the play?
The play explores themes of loneliness, isolation, communication breakdown, deception, and the struggle for identity and belonging.

12.  1What do the characters' long silences and pauses signify?
These pauses, a characteristic feature of Pinter's writing, reveal unspoken emotions, tension, and power shifts. They underscore the difficulty the characters have in communicating meaningfully.

13.  What does the cluttered room symbolize?
Aston's room, filled with junk and broken items, symbolizes the characters' inability to connect, Aston's stagnation, and their shared sense of entrapment.

14.  What does Davies's obsession with his "papers" symbolize?
Davies's "papers" represent his desperate and ultimately futile search for a stable identity and social validation. 

15.  What is the outcome of the play?
The play ends without resolution. Davies is forced out, and the brothers are left in their isolated state, having failed to form a lasting connection.

16.  What is the significance of the ending?
The ambiguous and unresolved ending is a key feature of absurdist theatre. It emphasizes the cyclical nature of the characters' existence and the lack of meaning in their struggles. 

 

The Breathing Corpses by Laura Wade

1.     Who wrote The Breathing Corpses?
Laura Wade, a British playwright, wrote the play, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre  in 2005.

2.     What was the inspiration for the play's title?
The title is a quote from the Greek tragedian Sophocles: "When a man has lost all happiness, he's not alive. Call him a breathing corpse".

3.     What was significant about the play's structure?
The story is told in reverse chronological order. Each scene explains the body that appeared in the previous scene. 

4.     What is the central premise of the play?
The play explores the ripple effect of death and how encountering a dead body affects the lives and relationships of the people who discover it.

5.     How does the play open?
The first scene shows the hotel chambermaid Amy discovering the body of a guest named Jim.

6.     What happens in the next scene?
The play moves backward in time, focusing on Jim and his wife Elaine as they deal with a gruesome discovery of their own.

7.     What eventually drove Jim to suicide?
Jim discovered a corpse in one of the self-storage units he manages, which ultimately traumatized him and led to his death.

8.     How do the different storylines connect?
The play reveals how seemingly disparate characters are all connected by a chain of events centered around the discovery of corpses. 

9.     Who is Amy?
A young, talkative hotel chambermaid who finds dead bodies. She is at once innocent and seemingly cursed by her repetitive encounters with death.

10.  Who is Jim?
A manager of a storage facility who becomes traumatized after discovering a body in one of his units. The play shows his descent into depression and eventual suicide.

11.  Who is Kate?
A woman who discovers a body in the park while out walking her dog. Her volatile mood and history of domestic abuse are exposed.

12.  Who is Ben?
Kate's boyfriend, who is on the receiving end of her violent rages. He eventually turns on her, with fatal results. 

13.  What is the main theme of the play?
The play's central theme is the effect of trauma and death on human psychology. It explores how characters cope (or fail to cope) after confronting mortality.

14.  How does the play explore "black comedy"?
Despite its dark subject matter, the play is infused with darkly humorous moments and absurd situations, often arising from the characters' reactions to death.

15.  What is the role of memory and truth?
By using reverse chronology, the play explores how different perspectives and hidden truths can reshape our understanding of past events and motives. 

16.  What happens to Amy at the end (or beginning) of the narrative?
In the final scene of the play's linear timeline (which appears earlier in the play's structure), Amy meets the charming but unsettling Charlie. This encounter suggests her story is far from over and hints at another potential tragedy.

17.  What is the play's overall message?
The play suggests that we are all "breathing corpses" if we have lost hope. In the end, it is an exploration of loss, trauma, and the human responsibility to find purpose even in the face of death.