''Act Without Words I'' is a short
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
by
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
. It is a
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
, Beckett's first (followed by ''
Act Without Words II
''Act Without Words II'' is a short mime play by Samuel Beckett, his second (after '' Act Without Words I''). Like many of Beckett's works, the piece was originally composed in French (''Acte sans paroles II''), then translated into English by B ...
''). Like many of Beckett's works, the play was originally written in French (''Acte sans paroles I''), being translated into English by Beckett himself. It was written in 1956 following a request from the dancer
Deryk Mendel and first performed on 3 April 1957 at the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. On that occasion it followed a performance of ''
Endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
''. The original music to accompany the performance was written by composer
John S. Beckett
John Stewart Beckett (5 February 1927 – 5 February 2007) was an Irish musician, composer and conductor; cousin of the famous writer and playwright Samuel Beckett.
Youth and education
John and his twin sister Ann were born in Sandymount ...
, Samuel's cousin, who would later collaborate with him on the radio play ''Words and Music''.
Synopsis
![DazzlingLightFirstThursdayBoise](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/DazzlingLightFirstThursdayBoise.jpg)
The action takes place in a
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
illuminated by a "dazzling light".
[Beckett, S., ''Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett'', London: ]Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, 1984, p 43 The cast consists of just one man, who, at the start of the play, is “flung backwards” onto the
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
. After he lands he hears a whistle from the right wing. He “takes the sound for some kind of call, and after a bit of reflection, proceeds in that direction only to find himself hurled back again. Next the sound issues from the left. The scene is repeated in reverse.”
[Lamont, R. C., ‘To Speak the Words of “The Tribe”: The Wordlessness of Samuel Beckett’s Metaphysical Clowns’ in Burkman, K. H., (Ed.) ''Myth and Ritual in the Plays of Samuel Beckett'' (London and Toronto: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1987), p 60] There is clearly no exit. He sits on the ground and looks at his hands.
A number of objects are then lowered into this set beginning with a
palm tree
The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...
with “a single bough some three
yard
The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...
s from the ground,”
“a
caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
of the
Tree of Life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History ...
.”
Its arrival is announced, as is that of each object which follows, with the same sharp whistle. On being made aware of its existence the man moves into its shade and continues looking at his hands. “A pair of tailor’s scissors descends from the
flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
”
but again the man doesn’t notice them until he hears the whistle. He then starts to trim his nails.
Over the course of the play other items are lowered from above: three cubes of varying sizes, a length of knotted rope and – always just out of reach – a “tiny
carafe
A carafe () is a glass container with a flared lip used for serving liquids, especially wine and coffee. Unlike the related decanter, carafes generally do not include stoppers. Coffee pots included in coffee makers are also referred to as ''car ...
, to which is attached a huge label inscribed WATER.”
The rest of the sketch is a study in frustrated efforts. “Armed with two natural tools, mind and hands, those tools, which separate him from lower orders of animals, he tries to survive, to secure some water in the desert. The mind works, at least in part: he learns – small cube on large; he invents, or is given
invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...
s – scissors, cubes, rope. But when he learns to use his tools effectively, they are confiscated: the scissors, when he reasons that in addition to cutting his fingernails, he might cut his throat; the blocks and rope, when he discovers that they might make a
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
.”
[Gontarski, S. E., ‘Birth Astride a Grave: Samuel Beckett’s ''Act Without Words I''’ in ''The Beckett Studies Reader'' (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993), pp 29-34] (
Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
and
Estragon
Estragon (affectionately Gogo; he tells Pozzo his name is Adam) is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's '' Waiting for Godot''. His name is the French word for tarragon.
Personality The impulsive misanthrope
Estragon represent ...
also contemplate suicide in this way at the end of ''
Waiting for Godot''). Beckett is here drawing on his viewing of the silent screen comedies of the like of
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
,
Ben Turpin
Bernard "Ben" Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) was an American comedian and actor, best remembered for his work in silent films. His trademarks were his cross-eyed appearance and adeptness at vigorous physical comedy. Turpin wo ...
and
Harry Langdon
Harry Philmore Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety'', December 27, 1944, page 39.
Life and career
Bor ...
all of whom would have encountered objects on-screen apparently with minds of their own.
Eventually it looks as if he's given up and he sits on the big cube. After a while, this is pulled up from beneath him, and he is left on the ground. From this point on he refuses to ‘play the game’ any further; even when the carafe of water is dangled in front of his face he does not make to grab it. The palms for the tree open, providing shade once more, but he doesn’t move. He simply sits there in the dazzling light looking at his hands.
Interpretation
On one level ''Act Without Words I'' “seems a
behaviourist
Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual ...
experiment within a
classical myth
Classical mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, or Greek and Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and poli ...
”, that of
Tantalus
Tantalus ( grc, Τάνταλος ) was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: he was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the wate ...
, who stood in a pool of water which receded every time he bent to drink it, and stood under a fruit tree which raised its branches every time he reached for food. In the 1930s Beckett read
Wolfgang Köhler
Wolfgang Köhler (21 January 1887 – 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology.
During the Nazi regime in Germany, he protest ...
’s book, ''
The Mentality of Apes
''The Mentality of Apes'' by Wolfgang Köhler is a landmark work in ethology, cognitive psychology and the study of the anthropoid apes. In it the author, a leading gestalt psychologist, showed that chimpanzees could solve problems by insight. ...
'' about the colony of
ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...
s in
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
, where experiments were conducted in which the apes also placed cubes on top of another in order to reach a banana” and is clearly referenced in this piece.
Tantalus was punished for stealing
ambrosia and nectar. It is not certain that the man ''is'' being punished for a crime other than that of existing in the first place. The situation is similar to that of the narrator in Beckett's 1955 ''The Expelled'', whose story begins with him being jettisoned from the place he was living (“The fall was … not serious. Even as I fell I heard the door slam, which brought me a little comfort …
orthat meant they were not pursuing me down the street with a stick, to beat me.”) “into an environment where he cannot exist but cannot escape … Whereas
Godot’s existence remains uncertain, here an external force exists” “represented by a sharp, inhuman, disembodied whistle”
which will not permit him to leave; “like
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
,
ewrestles with it to illustrate its substance.”
In simplistic terms the man's actual fall could be seen to represent the
Fall of man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience.
*
*
*
* ...
.
The fact that the man is literally, as far as the audience is concerned, thrown into existence brings to mind the
Heideggerian
Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
concept of ''
Geworfenheit'' (‘Throwness’).” Heidegger is clearly using the expression
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
ically as is Beckett; the man is expelled from a womb-like condition, from non-being into being. This is not the first time Beckett has used light to symbolise existence: “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.” The protagonist is nameless, he is
Everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin
The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
. “As Beckett told
Barney Rosset
Barnet Lee "Barney" Rosset, Jr. (May 28, 1922 – February 21, 2012) was a pioneering American book and magazine publisher. An avant-garde taste maker, he founded Grove Press in 1951 and ''Evergreen Review'' in 1957, both of which gave him platf ...
, his longtime U.S. publisher, in 1957: he is just ‘human meat or bones.’”
When he first looks at his hands it is “”as though
e is
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...
noticing his own body for the first time … Having become cognisant of his ''
Dasein
''Dasein'' () (sometimes spelled as Da-sein) is the German word for 'existence'. It is a fundamental concept in the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Heidegger uses the expression ''Dasein'' to refer to the experience of being that is p ...
'' …
e is willing to
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...
accept the presence of various ''Seiendes''”, as Heidegger calls existing objects, that start to appear beginning with the tree.
When the scissors arrive the man begins to trim his nails “for no other reason than the sudden availability of the correct object. The scissors of course could stand for any other useful object of daily living such as a house or car, objects whose "thereness" is most often taken for granted.”
The play is a
parable
A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
of resignation; a state one reaches only after a series of disappointments. The man has learned ‘the hard way’ that there is nothing he can rely on in life other than himself.
G. C. Barnard argues the prevalent interpretation of the ending; the protagonist does not move because he is simply crushed: ‘the man remains, defeated, having opted out of the struggle, lying on the empty desert.’ “But within this obvious, traditional ending, Beckett works his consummate skill, for the real play begins with its terminus. The climactic ending of the mime may signify not a pathetic defeat, but a conscious rebellion, man’s deliberate refusal to obey.
Lucky has finally turned on
Pozzo. Ironically then, the protagonist is most active when inert, and his life acquires meaning at its end. In this refusal, this cutting of the
umbilical rope, a second birth occurs, the birth of Man.”
Man has given birth to himself even though it appears it will mean the death of him.
[”Birth was the death of him.” – ''A Piece of Monologue'' in Beckett, S., ''Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett'', London: Faber and Faber, 1984, p 265] It is a victory of sorts, albeit a hollow one.
Beckett on Film
A filmed version of ''Act Without Words I'' was directed by
Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz (21 July 1926 – 25 November 2002) was a Czech-born British filmmaker, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are ''Saturday Night and Sun ...
for the 2001 ''
Beckett on Film
''Beckett on Film'' was a project aimed at making film versions of all nineteen of Samuel Beckett's stage plays, with the exception of the early and unperformed ''Eleutheria''. This endeavour was successfully completed, with the first films bei ...
'' project, with music specially composed by
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...
.
References
External links
Text of the play{{Beckett
Theatre of the Absurd
1956 plays
Plays by Samuel Beckett