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MY ANALYSIS OF DES: LOOKING AT EXAMPLES FROM BOND PLAYS
is lying on the floor. There is a clear development in the motif of the tool of
blinding as well. While in the first scene we only hear that it was done with
a scissors, in the second scene Liz actually brings ina pair of scissors and holds
it over Dan’s eyes. She also makes an explicit connection between the scissors
and the needle she uses to take drugs with the word ‘stab’ that she uses in
reference to both. In the end of the third scene Dan wants to stab Richard’s
eyes out with his shoe, he even stands above Richard, reusing and developing
this motif by becoming the tool himself. There is also a development in how
the sheet is used: in the first panel to make a bed, but then torn to apply as
a bandage, the shreds are also used by Liz to hang herself, and Dan dances and
cries with the bits left in the room, not knowing that his mother is hanging in
the next room. Finally, a heap of shredded sheet is exposed as Dan overturns
the chaise-longue and uses bits of sheet to tie Richard down. The constant
change in their use offers the possibility of regular re-evaluation of their
value and meaning for the audience. The final moment of the play is also
a clear apex in the use of the space and furniture, the whole room becomes
a complete mess by the end of the scene and the way the window is used by
Dan is also different from how it was used before, as it is the first time anyone
really looks out into the streets according to the stage directions.
I have brought these examples to underline that DEs are not random
happenings but are a series of linked moments that are developments of
previous actions, situations and ideas. I will analyse now another DE from
a different Bond play and I will also look at how the DE can be created in
performance further on.
This moment is from a play that I have referred to before, The Children,
written for a group of young people and two adult actors. First a short synopsis
of the play: it starts with Joe bringing on a stuffed puppet half his size who is
dressed in school uniform just like the boy. Joe talks to the puppet, at times
explaining things, at other points blaming him for his troubles, and finally
telling him that he is going to kill him. Joe stones the puppet with bricks
that he finds at the abandoned lot beside the railway line, but finally takes
the puppet out with himself. In the next scene his mother asks him to burn
down the house with the mauve door on the ‘new estate’, but she is not ready
to give an explanation about why she asks him to do it. Joe tells his friends
about his mother’s request, but just when they are discussing how a house
can be burned down, another child, a stranger enters. It turns out that he is
from the new estate and the kids drive him away, and to get back at them he
starts chucking stones at the group. As the children panic about being blamed
if the house is set on fire Joe brings the puppet and some bricks back and
asks the group to vow to keep the secret by throwing a brick at the puppet.
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4129 Bond: The Children.
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