The Old Tune

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''The Old Tune'' is a

free translation Untranslatability is the property of text or speech for which no equivalent can be found when translated into another language. A text that is considered to be untranslatable is considered a ''lacuna'', or lexical gap. The term arises when desc ...

of Robert Pinget’s 1960 play ''La Manivelle'' (''The Crank'') in which Samuel Beckett transformed Pinget's

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

ians, Toupin and Pommard into

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

ers, Cream and Gorman. Its first radio broadcast was by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

on 23 August 1960.

Barbara Bray Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic. Early life Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her parents had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was al ...

directed

Jack MacGowran John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett. Stage career MacGowran was born on 13 October 1918 in Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He establi ...

(Cream) and Patrick Magee (Gorman). For the unspecified old tune played by Gorman on the

barrel organ A barrel organ (also called roller organ or crank organ) is a French mechanical musical instrument consisting of bellows and one or more ranks of pipes housed in a case, usually of wood, and often highly decorated. The basic principle is the sam ...

Beckett selected
The Bluebells of Scotland
', suggested by the bank of bluebells mentioned near the start of the play.

Background

In 1957, Pinget, who at the time was close friends with Beckett, undertook a translation of Beckett's radio play '' All That Fall'', which found Beckett's approval. In 1960 Pinget's play ''Lettre Morte'' was presented on a double bill with ''

Krapp's Last Tape ''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's experience of listenin ...

'' at the

Théâtre Récamier The théâtre Récamier was a Parisian theatre located at 3 rue Récamier in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, inaugurated in 1908 and closed in 1978. History Originally, it was an entertainment venue built by Charles Blondel for the Ligue de ...

in Paris. When Randolph Goodman interviewed the French playwright in 1967, Pinget explained that Beckett : “offered to put my play into English. As he only translates his own material, I considered his offer a great kindness. Beckett wanted to set the scene of the play in Dublin and turn my Parisians into Irishmen; I gave him my permission to do so. It is a model translation.” This was not too much of a stretch as Pinget's original was written in “highly

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

French” in the first place. Beckett already admired Pinget's work – he had, for example, insisted that his friends. the Reaveys attend a performance of the French production on which he had been working – and “used to cite this play as an illustration of how important the proper use of music could be to a playwright, especially one who was cognizant of the importance of unifying the two disciples.” “By transforming the French into Irish rhythmic prose, Beckett went beyond translation to make the play his own, although it is less elusive than the drama which constitutes his fully original work. It is easy to see what attracted him to the text, two men on the margins of society, facing isolation and semantic memory loss, which disrupts communication.”

Synopsis

The play opens to the sound of street noises. An old organ grinder, Gorman, is having a fight with his equally dilapidated barrel organ. It plays for a bit, he thumps it; it plays a few bars more and then it gives up the ghost. He curses, fiddles with the workings and gets a bit more life out of it. As he manages this, he hears another's voice calling him. It is his old friend, Cream, whom he has not seen in years. Cream, a widower, had been living with one of his daughters, Daisy, but since her death, he has moved in with the other, Bertha. Gorman's wife is still alive. Both men are in their seventies: Gorman, by far the more inquisitive of the two, is seventy-three; Cream is seventy-six. The roar of an engine butts into their conversation, the first of many to come. They both bemoan the youth of today and remember a time before cars. Gorman remembers “

barouche A barouche is a large, open, four-wheeled carriage, both heavy and luxurious, drawn by two horses. It was fashionable throughout the 19th century. Its body provides seats for four passengers, two back-seat passengers vis-à-vis two behind the co ...

s”. Cream recalls “ broughams”. They can't agree over the make of the first car they actually did see: Gorman thinks it was a “Pic-Pic” but Cream insists it was a “Dee Dyan Button”. Each man extols his recollected details with utter conviction. They do, however, manage to agree upon the owner of the said vehicle, a

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

called Bush. The effect of modern life on the environment takes the men back to a particularly hot summer in 1895. Gorman talks about watering the roof with a

garden hose A garden hose, hosepipe, or simply hose is a flexible tube used to convey water. There are a number of common attachments available for the end of the hose, such as sprayers and sprinklers (which are used to concentrate water at one point or ...

but Cream insists a hose would have been a luxury item until after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Gorman accedes, acknowledging that his family didn't even having

running water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinkin ...

until 1925. They move onto the condition of modern

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s especially the prevalent trend for erecting

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. Etymology The etymology given by Oxford Dictionaries is "Mid 18th c ...

s, the build quality of which they both find to be questionable. Cream proposes they have a smoke, but can't find his cigarettes, accuses his daughter of going through his pockets, then comes across the packet. Neither man has a light however. They try to catch the eye of a passer-by but with no joy. Gorman asks Cream if he remembers the “black

shag Shag, or Shagged, or Shagger, or Shagging, or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family People Pseudonym ...

” they used to get when they were in the armed forces. He does. Predictably they begin to reminisce about the War. Gorman says he enlisted in 1906 with “The Foot” at Chatham. He calls to mind a public house called Morrison's. Cream says he must be mistaken, it was

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

and the pub was Harrison's Oak Lounge; he is doubly sure of this because he used to take his wife there on holiday. Gorman gives way on the pub's name but is still convinced it was Chatham. Cream refuses to cave, insisting that “The Gunners” were billeted at Chatham. The two become muddled. Cream is sure that Gorman is thinking about the

mobilization Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...

. It that were the case the place name would be Chester which is where Morrison's pub seemingly was. * By “The Foot”, Gorman may mean, the

Irish Guards ("Who Shall Separate s") , colors = , identification_symbol_2 Saffron (pipes), identification_symbol_2_label = Tartan , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = Tactical Recognition F ...

, one of the

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

s of foot guards in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. * The “Gunners” could refer to The Royal Artillery. * There has been a Naval Barracks in Chatham since 1588 * From 1877 Caterham Barracks was a depot for the foot guards regiments. *

Dale Barracks Dale Barracks is a British Army base at Moston near Chester, England. The military installation, which has accommodation and training facilities, was established shortly before the Second World War as a depot for the Cheshire Regiment. It is no ...

, Chester is a purpose built

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

Barracks. They are both more alone than they want to admit, struggling to remember, fighting to find common ground and yet even when they seem to it turns into a new battlefield for these two but they keep soldiering on. Gorman becomes nostalgic for the War: “ those are happy memories.”Beckett, S., ''Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 182 Clearly Cream's remembrances are not as ‘rose tinted’ though but he won't even give in on this generality. The roar of an engine distracts them and the next thing he knows Gorman has changed the subject: he is asking after Cream's son, who is a judge. The judge, it turns out, is plagued by rheumatism, which in Gorman's opinion is an

hereditary disease A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

. Cream can't agree saying that personally he has never been troubled by it. From all accounts Gorman is thinking about his own mother, even though he is doesn't actually suffer himself either; his assertions are mere opinion presented as fact. He wonders though about a society that can build “atom rockets” and yet has still to discover a cure for rheumatic disorders. He notes that Cream's son has been in the newspapers recently concerning the “Carlton affair”. Cream corrects him. It was the “Barton affair.” Gorman is not convinced. He insists: “The Carlton affair, Mr Cream, the sex fiend, on the Assizes.” Cream says his son works for the Circuit Court – which deals with civil, rather than criminal, cases – and tries to think of the name of the judge who has been presiding over this high-profile case but can't. Gorman obviously is not well informed on legal issues and admits it; his only experience of judicial matters has been to witnesses his niece's

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

proceedings some thirty years earlier. They begin to talk about families. Cream's grandson, Herbert – the judge's son – died in infancy; his daughter has two daughters of her own though. It's at this point Gorman learns that Cream's wife has been dead for twenty years. Gorman gets confused about the names of Cream's daughters, Daisy and Bertha, and where Bertha and her husband live. Gorman thinks they live near the slaughterhouse but Cream says Gorman must be thinking of the man's brother, the

nurseryman A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

. This contradicts what he himself said earlier when he referred to Bertha's husband, a man called Moody, ''as'' a nurseryman. He also now states she has two sons, one of which he calls Hubert confusing the boy with Herbert the boy his son, the judge, lost in infancy. He can't remember the name of his other grandson. Footsteps approach and Gorman tries to get them a light, unsuccessfully again. The conversation shifts onto financial matters. Gorman has always believed that Cream's daughter, whom he mistakenly calls his daughter-in-law, had “ private means” but it seems not; despite advise to invest in land, all the money had been put into the bank and lost during the War. Cream jokes that one day people will be building on the moon, which causes Gorman to wonder if Cream is “against progress.” He says not but thinks it lunacy to waste resources on the moon and can envisage nations fighting over it in years to come. For some reason this reminds Cream of his father. Gorman says he knew him to be a straight-talking man. He tries to remember when the man sat on the

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

and plumps for 1895, “the year of the great frost”. Cream corrects him, it was 1893, the year he'd just turned ten. Gorman doesn't object and proceeds with his recollection of the time Cream's father “went hell for leather for the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

”, a man called Overend, which he now asserts was in April 1896 despite Cream insisting that his father didn't join the council till January 1897. Gorman then says that the event he was referring to must have been instigated by another person altogether. It transpires the incident didn't involve the mayor at all; rather it was something to do with a local

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

, Oscar Bliss. This causes the men to reminisce over people they used to know in the past: Helen Bliss, the butcher's daughter; Rosie Plumpton, now deceased; Molly Berry; Eva Hart, whose brother married Gertie Crumplin who, in her day, had been a “great one for the lads”; Nelly Crowther, the daughter of Simon and Mary, who died in an explosion in a car along which injured a soldier, John Fitzball; John's aunt, “the high and mighty” Miss Hester, and her niece, Miss Victoria, who was due to marry an American and who had a brother – the aforementioned John – who died of injuries sustained from the explosion a year or two later. Throughout their conversation the roar of engines has continually interrupted them. Cream has had enough and prepares to go, aware that he's keeping Gorman from his work. Gorman persuades him to stay and starts looking for his cigarettes. Cream says he should start his barrel organ again which he does. For a few moments it fights with the street noise and then rises triumphantly at the end of the play.

Interpretation

Beckett draws heavily on the stylized language of

John Millington Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

, who had a similar upbringing to his, and the verbal excesses of

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. ...

, whose background could hardly have been different, to transform Pinget's original work into a pastiche, if not a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of the whole Irish comic tradition of linguistic

stereotyping In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

; the Irishman as caricature. In 1934, Beckett, in a review of O’Casey's ''Windfalls'', which includes two one-act plays, writes: : “Mr O’Casey is a master of knockabout in this very serious and honorable sense – that he discerns the principle of disintegration in even the most complacent solidities, and activates it to their explosion." Gorman and Cream's worlds are crumbling around them just as their pasts and memories are doing. Their speech is colloquial, their outlook

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parishes, in religion ** Parish churches, also called parochial churches * Parochial schools, primary or secondary schools affiliated to a religious organisation * Parochialism Parochialism is the ...

. The modern world is passing them by – literally – motor vehicles and the young on the street. Despite Beckett's conscious efforts to Gaelicise the work the themes at its core are universal. Gorman's line, “You had to work for your living in those days, it wasn't at six you knocked off, nor at seven neither, eight it was, eight o’clock, yes by God,” could be slipped almost unnoticed into the ''

Four Yorkshiremen sketch The "Four Yorkshiremen" is a comedy sketch that parodies nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. It features four men from Yorkshire who reminisce about their upbringing. As the conversation progresses they try to ...

'' – made famous by Monty Python – or just as easily

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

’s ''

The Sunshine Boys ''The Sunshine Boys'' is an original two-act play written by Neil Simon that premiered December 20, 1972 on Broadway starring Jack Albertson as Willie Clark and Sam Levene as Al Lewis and later adapted for film and television. Plot The pla ...

''. There is a clear contrast between O’Casey's linguistic pyrotechnics and the limited, impoverished lives of the characters that utter his rich

hyperbole Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and ...

; the result is both comic and tragic but it is clear that Beckett is in his debt. There is a touch of personal nostalgia here too: Beckett makes specific reference to the "Dee Dyan Button," the first car that Cream and Gorman ever saw, which was actually the

De Dion-Bouton De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux. Steam cars T ...

; Beckett's father was the first to own one in Ireland. It is the kind of detail

Mercier and Camier ''Mercier and Camier'' is a novel by Samuel Beckett that was written in 1946, but remained unpublished until 1970. Appearing immediately before his celebrated "trilogy" of '' Molloy'', '' Malone Dies'' and '' The Unnamable'', ''Mercier et Camier ...

could easily have squabbled about on their trek through and round about Dublin. Critics tend to by-pass the piece, treating it as Beckett-lite, which in many ways it is, but it also demonstrates something of a nostalgic looking-back from Beckett's own point of view, not simply to the Dublin he once knew but to a style of writing that he would never return to again after this year, 1960, the same year he completed his own ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

''. If ever John Donne had in mind some specific “emergent occasion” then this was probably the last thing he would have thought of: two men, each waiting for their own particular “bell otoll”, each “an island, entire of itself” shouting across the strait to another man on another island barely able to hear a word the other is saying.

Stage productions

The play was adapted to the stage shortly after publication in '' Evergreen Review'' 5.17, (March–April 1961) and first presented off-Broadway at the Royal Playhouse,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on 23 March 1961, directed by Steve Chernak with Sly Travers (Gorman) and Jack Delmonte (Cream). The play was not well received, apart from a review in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' by John Talmer: : "The daily critics have put it down and so I suppose it shall die, but ''The Old Tune'', by Robert Pinget in a translation-adaptation by Samuel Beckett – more Beckett than Pinget I hazard – is a telling if slender piece of work. Death becomes it well: its subject matter is ageing and death,

desuetude In law, desuetude (; , ) is a doctrine that causes statutes, similar legislation, or legal principles to lapse and become unenforceable by a long habit of non-enforcement or lapse of time. It is what happens to laws that are not repealed when ...

and

deliquescence Hygroscopy is the phenomenon of attracting and holding water molecules via either absorption or adsorption from the surrounding environment, which is usually at normal or room temperature. If water molecules become suspended among the substanc ...

. But also memory and fondness, loving and nostalgia – and the foolish-fondness of old men straining with weak memories, full of error, for the pictures and pleasures of the past." The play did not die, however. * Pinget's original ''La Manivelle'' opened at the Théâtre de la Comédie, Paris. George Peyrou directe
Georges Ader
an
Henry de Livry
* In 1964 Beckett's adaptation opened at the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

Judson Poets’ Theater, New York. Peter Feldman directed Jerry Trichter and Sean O’Ceallaigh. * The British stage version opened on 22 November 1964 at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate. Alan Simpson directed

Godfrey Quigley Godfrey Quigley (4 May 1923 – 7 September 1994) was an Irish film, television and stage actor. He appeared in Stanley Kubrick's films ''A Clockwork Orange'' and ''Barry Lyndon''. Biography Quigley was born in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, ...

and Gerry Duggan. * A version was presented on 5 January 1965 at the

Traverse Theatre The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes and Richard Demarco. The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary p ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

wit
Leonard Maguire
as Gorman and

Declan Mulholland Thomas Declan Mulholland (6 December 1932 – 29 June 1999) was a Northern Irish character actor of film and television. He is known for his multiple appearances in ''Doctor Who'' and for his deleted portrayal of Jabba the Hutt in ''Star Wars'' ...

as Cream, directed by Michael Geliot. * And the play was still going strong twenty-two years later. “When

tan Tan or TAN may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Black and Tans, a nickname for British special constables during the Irish War of Independence. By extension "Tans" can now also colloquially refer to English or British people in general, es ...

Gontarski staged it at th
Magic Theatre, San Francisco
... in 1986, Beckett reminded him: :: “Be sure Pinget gets full & visible credit. ''The Old Tune'' his vision not mine.”Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) ''The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett'', (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), p 421

References

External links

The Old Tune itself (WAV file) as used by The Tübingen Anglo-Irish Theatre Group
http://www.anglo-iren.de/] – NOT ''The Bluebells of Scotland''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Tune 1960 plays Theatre of the Absurd Plays by Samuel Beckett Works originally published in Evergreen Review