That Time
Encyclopedia
For the song "That Time" by Regina Spektor see Begin to Hope
That Time is a one-act play by Samuel Beckett
, written in English between 8 June 1974 and August 1975. It was specially written for actor Patrick Magee
, who delivered its first performance, on the occasion of Beckett's seventieth birthday celebration, at London's Royal Court Theatre
on 20 May 1976.http://www.themodernword.com/beckett/beckett_theater.html
(“that old Chinaman long before Christ” (B3)). In early drafts Beckett has the head resting on a pillow recalling especially the dying, bedridden Malone
. The text only requires that Listener open and closes his eyes (which stay shut for most of the time) and holds a smile – "toothless for preference" – at the very end of the performance.
The actor responds to three sets of reminiscences that come at him from all sides according to a predetermined sequence. These voices describe a life of self-induced isolation and retrospection and each of these three journeys into the past reinforces his sense of solitude. For company over the years he has made up stories and now, after years suffering from that "cancer Time", has considerable difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Beckett required that these monologues, although featuring the same actor, were to be pre-recorded and not presented live. He also specified that the voices come from three locations preferably, from the left, the right and from above the actor and that the switch from one to the other be smooth and yet clearly noticeable. He did not stipulate that any effort be made to differentiate between the voices, however, unless it were impractical to have them coming from three distinct locations; in that instance he asked for a change in pitch
to be used to distinguish one from another.
"The B story has to do with the young man, the C story is the story of the old man and the A story is that of the man in middle age," he explained.
The significance of the final smile is not clear and a source of much speculation. The fact that the 'natural order' (BAC – see below) is restored and maintained in the third round is an unlikely reason because Beckett changed the pattern only in the last revision, and so it is a doubtful explanation for the smile that had been previously included in earlier drafts. “Is it a … smile of relief and contentment that at last all the torment is nearly over? A wry reflection on the insignificance of the individual human existence in the context of infinity?” Does Listener smile because he finally recognizes himself in the different selves of his memory? Beckett has not explained. All that can be said for certain is that the story – indeed the man’s life – has “come and gone … in no time” (C12) words which echo Vladimir’s at the end of Waiting for Godot
: “Astride of a grave and a difficult birth.” In the 1977 German production, directed by Beckett himself, he did make one addition to the final scene: Klaus "Herm’s smile ... merged with his audible panting into a single scornful exhale-laugh – Beckett’s last minute inspiration."
where he hid as a child of between ten and twelve (A4/A10) looking at a “picture book
” (A3) and talking to himself for company (A9), making up “imaginary conversations” while his family were out in the dark looking for him (A4). The tram
s no longer run (A1) and the railway station is “all closed down and boarded up” (A6). Dejected he sits in a doorway making up stories of the past (A11) while he waits for the night ferry, never intending to return (A7).
according to the following order::
Beckett is known to have had a long-standing preoccupation with musical structure. Time duration dictated where the breaks would come as he planned 3 x 5 minutes of speech with silences after 5 minutes and 10 minutes. The pauses “follow moments in which each of the voices confronts a moment of doubt, spatial, temporal or psychological confusion”.
Early drafts include many biographical reminiscence, some of which still makes their way into the final version. Barrington’s Tower became Foley’s Folly to capitalise on the alliteration, “the number 11 bus, [which] would only take him to the suburb of Clonskeagh
leaving him with a five mile walk to” the folly and the “Doric terminus” is the boarded up Harcourt Street railway terminus in Dublin. The Portrait Gallery, Library and Post Office suggest London
where Beckett lived for two years in the Thirties.
The title has a double meaning, referring to a specific period of time and also to time in general. This is clear from the French translation Beckett made where there is no one word which conveys this duplicity of meaning and although he opted for Cette Fois as the title in French, he translated ‘time’ as ‘fois’, ‘temps’ and ‘heure’ depending on the context.
Each of the three scenes created by Voices A, B, and C lays claim to being a “turning-point,” “that time” marking the “never the same but the same” when a self might possibly be able to “say I to yourself” (all quotes, C5).
The voices are trying throughout the play to place all the events in the right time order and also remember when in particular certain events occurred: “Was that the time or was that another time” (C6). Vivian Mercier
in Beckett/Beckett asks: “Are they memories or fictions…? Is all memory a fictional process…?” (p 236) In each voice, the idea that the person is inventing people or events is stated or suggested, as when voice B says, “just one of those things you kept making up to keep out the void” (B4). These voices from Listener’s past are not entities in their own right, they are how he now remembers/imagines the voices from that time. Listener is an omniscient narrator albeit a flawed one, which is why each of the voices has some insight into the others’ times and repeats phrases from at least one of the other time frames.
). She has lost both parents and the death of her mother troubles her in particular. In later drafts Beckett eliminated almost all naturalistic detail. The visual is of a “woman’s face alone in constant light. Nothing but fixed lit face and speech.”
’” and later wrote to George Reavey
(1 September 1974) saying: “Have written a short piece (theatre): That Time. Not I family”. Additionally, because the later play was “cut out of the same texture” as Not I, he didn’t want them on the same bill.
where O is confronted with E, himself.
, a late prose work, could almost summarise That Time : “A voice comes to one in the dark. Imagine.” (p 7) Listener becomes “hearer” (p 42) who “speaks of himself as another” (p 34) Voices assail him “from one quarter and [then] from another” (p 19) making up stories (“fabling” (p 89)) that “are coming to an end” (p 88) leaving him as he always was, alone (p 89).
Begin to Hope
Begin to Hope is the fourth album by Russian-American singer-songwriter, Regina Spektor. It was released June 13, 2006. The album debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200, but due to the popularity of the single "Fidelity", it peaked at number 20 and was labeled a "pace setter" by Billboard....
That Time is a one-act play by Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, written in English between 8 June 1974 and August 1975. It was specially written for actor Patrick Magee
Patrick Magee (actor)
Patrick Magee was a Northern Irish actor best known for his collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, as well as his appearances in horror films and in Stanley Kubrick's films A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.-Early life:He was born Patrick McGee in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern...
, who delivered its first performance, on the occasion of Beckett's seventieth birthday celebration, at London's Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
on 20 May 1976.http://www.themodernword.com/beckett/beckett_theater.html
Listener
On stage the audience is confronted with the head of man in his dotage about ten feet above the stage and slightly off-centre; everything else is in darkness. The man has flaring white hair and remains silent apart from his slow and regular breathing which is amplified. Beckett identified the old man as being inspired by LaoziLaozi
Laozi was a mystic philosopher of ancient China, best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching . His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of Taoism...
(“that old Chinaman long before Christ” (B3)). In early drafts Beckett has the head resting on a pillow recalling especially the dying, bedridden Malone
Malone Dies
Malone Dies is a novel by Samuel Beckett. It was first published in 1951, in French, as Malone Meurt, and later translated into English by the author....
. The text only requires that Listener open and closes his eyes (which stay shut for most of the time) and holds a smile – "toothless for preference" – at the very end of the performance.
The actor responds to three sets of reminiscences that come at him from all sides according to a predetermined sequence. These voices describe a life of self-induced isolation and retrospection and each of these three journeys into the past reinforces his sense of solitude. For company over the years he has made up stories and now, after years suffering from that "cancer Time", has considerable difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
Beckett required that these monologues, although featuring the same actor, were to be pre-recorded and not presented live. He also specified that the voices come from three locations preferably, from the left, the right and from above the actor and that the switch from one to the other be smooth and yet clearly noticeable. He did not stipulate that any effort be made to differentiate between the voices, however, unless it were impractical to have them coming from three distinct locations; in that instance he asked for a change in pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
to be used to distinguish one from another.
"The B story has to do with the young man, the C story is the story of the old man and the A story is that of the man in middle age," he explained.
The significance of the final smile is not clear and a source of much speculation. The fact that the 'natural order' (BAC – see below) is restored and maintained in the third round is an unlikely reason because Beckett changed the pattern only in the last revision, and so it is a doubtful explanation for the smile that had been previously included in earlier drafts. “Is it a … smile of relief and contentment that at last all the torment is nearly over? A wry reflection on the insignificance of the individual human existence in the context of infinity?” Does Listener smile because he finally recognizes himself in the different selves of his memory? Beckett has not explained. All that can be said for certain is that the story – indeed the man’s life – has “come and gone … in no time” (C12) words which echo Vladimir’s at the end of Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
: “Astride of a grave and a difficult birth.” In the 1977 German production, directed by Beckett himself, he did make one addition to the final scene: Klaus "Herm’s smile ... merged with his audible panting into a single scornful exhale-laugh – Beckett’s last minute inspiration."
A
Voice A is that of maturity. The man returns for a "last time" (A1) to the town he grew up in and tries unsuccessfully to reach the follyFolly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
where he hid as a child of between ten and twelve (A4/A10) looking at a “picture book
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
” (A3) and talking to himself for company (A9), making up “imaginary conversations” while his family were out in the dark looking for him (A4). The tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s no longer run (A1) and the railway station is “all closed down and boarded up” (A6). Dejected he sits in a doorway making up stories of the past (A11) while he waits for the night ferry, never intending to return (A7).
B
Voice B is that of youth. It describes sitting with a girl beside a wheat field exchanging vows of affection, (B1) then lying with her in the sand (B7) and subsequently being alone in the same settings (B9). In each instance there is unusually no taction contact suggesting his inability to extrapolate beyond the point of simply being with another. These events appear to be reviewed at a turning point in his life: whilst sitting beside a window in the dark listening to an owl hooting he has been remembering/imagining a first-love scenario but then finds he can’t continue and has to give up trying to (B12).C
Voice C is that of old age. By this time he is content to seek shelter (and a degree of privacy) in public places like the Post Office (C9), the Public Library (C11) and the Portrait Gallery (C1). In the gallery he sees a face reflected in the glass and doesn’t quite recognise himself (C3). All his life he has lived in the past – all the voices are reflective – but now he is confronted with a reflection which is current, his own. The text with which the play closes, a ‘vision’ in the library where all the books have dissolved into dust (C12) evokes God’s admonition to Adam, “dust thou art; unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19)Genesis
Beckett initially wrote continuous prose for each of the three voice-aspects, then intercalated them into 36 verse paragraphs which are presented in a manner similar to PlayPlay (play)
Play is a one-act play by Samuel Beckett. It was written between 1962 and 1963 and first produced in German as Spiel on 14 June 1963 at the Ulmer Theatre in Ulm-Donau, Germany, directed by Deryk Mendel, with Nancy Illig , Sigfrid Pfeiffer and Gerhard Winter...
according to the following order::
| A1 | C1 | B1 | A2 | C2 | B2 | A3 | C3 | B3 | C4 | A4 | B4 | PAUSE | BREATH | |||||
| C5 | B5 | A5 | C6 | B6 | A6 | C7 | B7 | A7 | B8 | C8 | A8 | PAUSE | BREATH | |||||
| B9 | A9 | C9 | B10 | A10 | C10 | B11 | A11 | C11 | B12 | A12 | C12 | PAUSE | SMILE |
Beckett is known to have had a long-standing preoccupation with musical structure. Time duration dictated where the breaks would come as he planned 3 x 5 minutes of speech with silences after 5 minutes and 10 minutes. The pauses “follow moments in which each of the voices confronts a moment of doubt, spatial, temporal or psychological confusion”.
Early drafts include many biographical reminiscence, some of which still makes their way into the final version. Barrington’s Tower became Foley’s Folly to capitalise on the alliteration, “the number 11 bus, [which] would only take him to the suburb of Clonskeagh
Clonskeagh
Clonskeagh or Clonskea , is a southern suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder.-Location and access:Whilst located fully within the traditional County Dublin, Clonskeagh lies partially within the administrative area of Dublin City Council but mostly in that of Dun...
leaving him with a five mile walk to” the folly and the “Doric terminus” is the boarded up Harcourt Street railway terminus in Dublin. The Portrait Gallery, Library and Post Office suggest London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where Beckett lived for two years in the Thirties.
The title has a double meaning, referring to a specific period of time and also to time in general. This is clear from the French translation Beckett made where there is no one word which conveys this duplicity of meaning and although he opted for Cette Fois as the title in French, he translated ‘time’ as ‘fois’, ‘temps’ and ‘heure’ depending on the context.
Common Threads
Each voice in That Time has a subject area independent of the others at first, but as the play progresses, connections are made through common images and recurring themes. C’s story takes place in winter (“always winter” (C1)); B’s events take place in summer so it is logical to assume that A’s tale happens in autumn (“grey day” (A1), “pale sun” (A8)). A sits on a stone step but remembers sitting on a stone in the folly, B sits on a stone by the wheat field and C on a marble slab in the portrait gallery linking the memories. The facts that the man's parents are both are dead and the green greatcoat (“the distinguishing outer garb of many of Beckett’s characters”) left for him by his father are mentioned in A12 and C2.Each of the three scenes created by Voices A, B, and C lays claim to being a “turning-point,” “that time” marking the “never the same but the same” when a self might possibly be able to “say I to yourself” (all quotes, C5).
The voices are trying throughout the play to place all the events in the right time order and also remember when in particular certain events occurred: “Was that the time or was that another time” (C6). Vivian Mercier
Vivian Mercier
Vivian Mercier was an Irish literary critic. He was born in Clara, County Offaly, Ireland and educated first at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, and then at Trinity College, Dublin. He became a Scholar of the College and edited the student magazine T.C.D...
in Beckett/Beckett asks: “Are they memories or fictions…? Is all memory a fictional process…?” (p 236) In each voice, the idea that the person is inventing people or events is stated or suggested, as when voice B says, “just one of those things you kept making up to keep out the void” (B4). These voices from Listener’s past are not entities in their own right, they are how he now remembers/imagines the voices from that time. Listener is an omniscient narrator albeit a flawed one, which is why each of the voices has some insight into the others’ times and repeats phrases from at least one of the other time frames.
Kilcool
The so-called “Kilcool manuscript” is a monologue that Beckett worked on – and abandoned – in 1963. In early drafts a female voice describes a move to Kilcool (Beckett’s father had once rented a house in KilcooleKilcoole
Kilcoole is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is three kilometres south of Greystones, 14 kilometres north of Wicklow, and about 25 kilometres south of Dublin. It was used as the set for the Irish television series Glenroe, which ran through the 1980s and 1990s...
). She has lost both parents and the death of her mother troubles her in particular. In later drafts Beckett eliminated almost all naturalistic detail. The visual is of a “woman’s face alone in constant light. Nothing but fixed lit face and speech.”
Not I
In July 1974 Beckett called That Time a “brother to ‘Not INot I
Not I is a twenty-minute dramatic monologue written in 1972 by Samuel Beckett, translated as Pas Moi; premiere at the “Samuel Beckett Festival” by the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, New York , directed by Alan Schneider, with Jessica Tandy and Henderson Forsythe .-Synopsis:Not I takes place...
’” and later wrote to George Reavey
George Reavey
George Reavey was a Russian-born Irish surrealist poet, publisher, translator and art collector. He was also Samuel Beckett's first literary agent. In addition to his own poetry, Reavey's translations and critical prose helped introduce 20th century Russian poetry to an English-speaking audience...
(1 September 1974) saying: “Have written a short piece (theatre): That Time. Not I family”. Additionally, because the later play was “cut out of the same texture” as Not I, he didn’t want them on the same bill.
Krapp’s Last Tape
In Krapp's Last Tape Beckett clearly instructs that the voice on the tapes be audibly different (“Strong voice, rather pompous, clearly Krapp’s at a much earlier time”) whereas in That Time the notes say simply “Voices A B C are his own coming to him from both sides and above” suggestive of the fact that these voices belong to the present time frame.Film
The scene in the portrait gallery, where C experiences a terrifying moment of self-recognition, is similar to the one at the end of FilmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
where O is confronted with E, himself.
Company
The opening paragraph of CompanyCompany
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
, a late prose work, could almost summarise That Time : “A voice comes to one in the dark. Imagine.” (p 7) Listener becomes “hearer” (p 42) who “speaks of himself as another” (p 34) Voices assail him “from one quarter and [then] from another” (p 19) making up stories (“fabling” (p 89)) that “are coming to an end” (p 88) leaving him as he always was, alone (p 89).