''Applicant'' is a dramatic
sketch written by
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
. Originally written in 1959 and first published by
Eyre Methuen
Methuen Publishing Ltd is an English publishing house. It was founded in 1889 by Sir Algernon Methuen (1856–1924) and began publishing in London in 1892. Initially Methuen mainly published non-fiction academic works, eventually diversifying t ...
in 1961, it was first broadcast on
BBC Radio on the Third Programme "between February and March 1964," along with Pinter's other revue sketches, ''
That's Your Trouble That's may refer to:
* ''"That's"'', a brand name used on recordable media by Taiyo Yuden and its subsidiary ''That's Fukushima Co., Ltd.''
* Several English-language listings magazines in the People's Republic of China
**''That's Beijing''
**''Tha ...
'', ''
That's All'', ''
Interview
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
'', and ''
Dialogue for Three
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...
''.
["Revue Sketches" in ''Plays: Three'' and ''Complete Works: Three'' 222.]
A revised and much-expanded version of ''Applicant'' is incorporated in the last scene of Act One of Pinter's play ''
The Hothouse
''The Hothouse'' (1958/1980) is a full-length tragicomedy written by Harold Pinter in the winter of 1958 between '' The Birthday Party'' (1957) and ''The Caretaker'' (1959). After writing ''The Hothouse'' in the winter of 1958 and following the ...
'', wherein the character still called Lamb is "tested" in "''a soundproof room''" by Miss Cutts, the successor of Miss Piffs, and her colleague Gibbs (58–78).
According to Pinter's official authorised biographer
Michael Billington, the sketch (and the scene in ''The Hothouse'') was inspired by and reproduced details of "his own experience
s 'a guinea pig' at the
Maudsley Hospital
The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the In ...
in London" in 1954, in which he took part to earn "ten bob or something" and about which he told Billington: "''The Hothouse'' was kicked off by that experience. I was well aware of being used for an experiment and feeling quite powerless" (''Harold Pinter'' 102, 104).
Setting
An "office" (Pinter, "Applicant" 231).
Characters
*Lamb, "''a young man, eager, cheerful, enthusiastic''"
*Miss Piffs, "''the essence of efficiency''" (231)
Synopsis
Applying for a job, Lamb, who identifies himself in the dialogue as a "physicist" (231), is given a psychological test by Miss Piffs. She "''attaches''" "electrodes" and "earphones" to him and Lamb is subjected to a "''piercing high pitched buzz-hum''" (232). Before he has recovered, Miss Piffs bombards him with social, medical and sexual questions (232–34), in response to which he says "''in a high voice''", "Well, it depends what you mean really—" (234). At the climax of her interrogation she "''presses the other button and the piercing buzz-hum is heard again''" (234). Lamb "''collapses''", and "''Silence''" falls, as "''He lies face upwards''", as Miss Piffs "''looks at him''" and ends the sketch with "Thank you very much, Mr. Lamb. We'll let you know" (234).
Notes
References
*
Billington, Michael. ''Harold Pinter''. London: Faber and Faber, 2007. (13). Updated 2nd ed. of ''The Life and Work of Harold Pinter''. 1996. London: Faber and Faber, 1997. (10). (The official authorised biography.)
*Pinter, Harold, ''Applicant'' in "Revue Sketches". 221–40 in ''Plays: Three''. London:
Eyre Methuen
Methuen Publishing Ltd is an English publishing house. It was founded in 1889 by Sir Algernon Methuen (1856–1924) and began publishing in London in 1892. Initially Methuen mainly published non-fiction academic works, eventually diversifying t ...
, London, 1978. ''Complete Works: Three''. New York:
Grove Press
Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...
, 1978. (1st printing). (10). (13). (Parenthetical references to "Applicant"
31–34in the text are to these editions, which are paginated the same.)
*–––. ''The Hothouse: A Play by Harold Pinter''. New York: Grove Press, 1980. (10). (13).
External links
"Sketches (2002):Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
, London" – In "Plays" at ''HaroldPinter.org: Official Website of the International Playwright
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
''. (This production, ''Sketches I'' and ''Sketches II'', did not include ''Applicant''; but it included several of Pinter's other sketches previously produced along with it.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Applicant (Sketch)
Plays by Harold Pinter
Methuen Publishing books