In the first act Jane, in a hopeless attempt to be a passable hostess, leaves the party in search of tonic water and incongruously returns sopping wet in a men’s overcoat and trilby hat. Mortified that his wife is looking like this, Sidney locks Jane out the house, claiming “he was from the off-licence”. This is to protect his chances of impressing Ronald or it could be to protect him and his wife’s pride. Unsurprisingly she isn’t missed, probably because at that time her character has no confidence and wishes to blend in. She being locked out is emblematic, it symbolises how she feels she is shut out from the group and is shut out from herself. Throughout the play she feels that Sidney is the dominant one in their relationship and to stay on his side she must share his views and in some cases mimics what he says: Sidney- “Compliments of the season.” Jane-“Of the season.” Though she is more perceptive than Sidney, she realises she and Sidney are not wanted at Ronald and Marion’s house and feebly tries to put him off, “But there’s nobody…”, she is still near desperate to stay close to him, which maybe because she loves him or more probably that she doesn’t have a clue what to do in life and following him seems to be the best option. This shows how one persons (Sidney’s) desire to communicate can leave others (Jane) unable to do anything other than agree with this overshadowing character.
The Jackson’s dog, George, is another dramatic device used. Large and aggressive, Eva and Geoffrey struggle to handle him and this may be reflected in their relationship. Eva says, “He’s just impossible” of George. However, despite obviously talking about George, she could be subliminally talking about Geoffrey, another illustration of how communication can be true in some ways but is not entirely true. He contributes to the claustrophobic atmosphere in act two, where he traps the senseless six in the kitchen, “I don’t think he’s going to let us through”. This displays the characters singularity, by giving them a situation where they could show co-operativity- and strangely enough they eventually do in their own unique way by joining in a song with Eva being revealed as the director of the group, “Eva…conducts them”. This could have been Eva’s “plan”; to get attention and sympathy and use it against the others so she is ultimately the leader or it could have been merely a cry for help.
Marion is utilized as a dramatic device in the first half of act three, again as an off-stage character. By this point she has reached such a stage of depression she has imprisoned herself in her bedroom, “almost in a state of hibernation”, attempting to drink her troubles away whilst Geoffrey dubiously denies she is an alcoholic. He clearly has no communication with his wife whatsoever, “Drink? No I don’t honestly think so” and is simply no longer caring, or maybe he simply just cannot admit that his wife is an utter wreck. Ronald, too, seems uninterested in her and Eva seems to be the only one with real concern for her. This shows how Eva has developed into a more confident and pronounced person, the complete opposite of Marion who seems to have travelled backwards. Marion also compares how other characters have developed; Ronald has continued to deteriorate financially and in character and Sidney and Jane have become a success but they still continue their over-enthusiastic and cringe-worthy approach.
Another frequently used dramatic device exercised by Ayckbourn is the use of black humour. Black humour is a form of comedy which the audience knows they should not be laughing at, because of its unethicality, yet they still enjoy it as it makes a more serious subject easier to cope with by ridiculing it. Ayckbourn particularly favours the technique in the final 2 acts, the most obvious case being Eva’s suicide attempts, using the washing line she “ties it into a crude noose”, and also Marion’s alcoholism. These are both dark themes, which expose the defects of all of the characters. However, the main purpose of black comedy is to entertain the audience and therefore popularise the play.
Eva’s many failed suicide attempts are made even more humorous by something less malicious, the other characters’ blatant ignorance. Most of her efforts are not even recognised by the other characters, thus creating farcical humour as it highlights the singularity and vanity of the other characters. Jane inflicts her obsession with cleaning upon others and doesn’t even realise what Eva’s doing, mistaking it for Eva thinking “I must clean that oven”, a thought that Jane has regularly, apparently. This also shows her uneasiness in a social environment and how she believes that cleaning is more pleasurable than parties and when she is in a more comfortable environment without her loud husband she begins to communicate with Eva, although when she communicates she does tend to prattle. Another classic example of how Ayckbourn uses Eva’s suicidal mind-set is when Sidney picks up one of Eva’s suicide notes, asking if it’s “nothing vital”. As well as being ironic, this is a slight pun. His wording is brilliant here as the word “vital” is often associated with life/ death and the note itself is based entirely around that aspect.
Eva’s numerous suicide attempts also lead to farcical comedy. By then the audience can predict what she will do and how the other characters will, or more probably won’t, react. To appreciate how entertaining to watch this is the characters would have to be in the audience as the audience have the viewpoint to appreciate the comical values. Ayckbourn also allows a sense of relation to the other characters; the comedy is sourced from the more ignorantly flawed characters rather than Eva and the more serious idea of attempted suicide which is significant to Act two as it is what makes it so effective and humorous.
I’m going to revert back to the original question and Ayckbourn’s concern: lack of communication. Personally I think some relationships can work well even if decent communication is deficient. For example, Jane and Sidney are rather successful at the end of the play and seemed to have reached an understanding between them where Sidney, the provider, wears the trousers in their relationship and although he never seems to listen to Jane she seems happy following him. In fact, in Act three, the best bit of conversation between them is when they are arguing over the name of the game; Jane- “Musical Forfeits.” Sidney- “Musical Dancing.” Other relationships don’t work quite as well. Ronald and Marion grow increasingly distant throughout the play and by the end Ronald doesn’t even see her anymore, claiming “She likes her privacy”. Marion grows desperate for someone to listen and is ecstatic when she sees people in the house and actually gets some sympathy and understanding from Eva, “I know the feeling”. Eva has, too, grown desperate for attention and endeavours to be noticed in Act two by trying repeatedly to commit suicide, although she is an inspiration for Marion as Eva managed to get herself out of that state and Marion hopes that she can too.
“They are all trapped in their small shuttered worlds… Nobody truly communicates with anyone or understands anyone else.” This statement is an exaggeration and is also slightly ambiguous. Most communication is indefinite; some aspects of it are true and also false. Also the reliability of what is being said relies greatly on the environment. Some may feel dominated by others or feel they have to be more respectful to them to help them climb the social/career ladder. There is too a real contrast between the innocence of words and the characters saying them. Furthermore true communication can be damaging and maybe the fact that people remain in “small, shuttered worlds” is to protect others from themselves. How the characters communicate with each other exploits the audience to ambivalence and allows them to dwell on how contact varies between characters and how they influence each other. I believe the majority of people would benefit from seeing this play; not only is an absolute hoot, it also exposes the audience to social, often slightly absurd, situations which they can learn from. Whoever wrote the above quote clearly has social issues of their own and I recommend that he/she needs to see a psychiatrist to discuss this in further detail as this person is far too cynical of this fabulous play.
