That Time

At that time (English Original Title: That Time ) is a one-act play by Samuel Beckett. The premiere took place on 20 May 1976 Royal Court Theatre in London. Beckett had the piece in 1975 written for the friends of his actor Patrick Magee, who then also took over the silent role of the one-man play and it played as a contribution to the celebration of Beckett's 70th birthday for the first time.

Action

In the single beam of the otherwise dark scene, the face of an old man floating in about three feet above the stage floor. His white hair is spread out like a horizontally lying and form a bright wreath around his head. His regular breathing is amplified through speakers. His eyes he keeps closed throughout. Only at the very end, his mouth twists into a " toothless smile ".

The old man is " the listener " (H), whose appearance Beckett was inspired by the figure of the legendary Chinese philosopher Lao- Tse. H hears alternately three votes. As soon becomes clear, they are facets of his own voice, the left and right (A, B) and top (C ) to penetrate his ear. They merge into one another without the slightest interruption of the general fluency ", apart from two interruptions, where the stage directions provide seven seconds of silence. They differ acoustically only in the direction from which they talk at H, and tell of youth Hs (B ), of love (A) and age (C). From A be summoned under other images at night and the pale morning sun, as he hid as a young boy in front of the adults and a children's book talked to himself. B tells the story of a platonic relationship with a girl with whom he was sitting on a summer day once in a corn field, was at other times at the beach, and how he can hear you scream an owl alone in a dark room at night and the love scene in vain to mind recall attempts. C describes the winter and rain, before which he finds refuge in public buildings, such as the post office or the museum. When he finally ends up in a library, he is suddenly a crumble into dust to see all the books - a downfall vision with which the monologues reach their conclusion. A, B and C document that H has always been the isolation and self-reflection preferred that the retrospective and storytelling were his constant companions and that he now, after spending years on the phenomenon of time as in a cancerous growth ( "that cancer time" ) has suffered hard, nor to distinguish between reality and fiction.

To form

The monologues of the three voice carried in a precisely regulated, fugal entangled order which has given rise to many speculations and equality and co-ordination of the three memory streams suggests. In the event that the distinction of the sources (left, right, top ) of A, B and C from the audience would not be clear enough perceptible, Beckett has suggested the three votes to manipulate technically so that they talk in a slightly different pitches, which are intended to identify three different ages, but not on three different speakers. For the same reason, these three split voice should not be heard live, but are better absorbed beforehand and then recorded by the band.

Interpretation

Especially the unexpected smile of the listener at the end of the one-act has led to numerous interpretations. Whether this is a sign of satisfaction that H has finally found in the three memories now itself, or whether it, in view of the end of the acoustic sprinkler to go an expression of relief, or whether it is a cynical grin am suggesting about the insignificance of human life in general - Beckett has remained the answer. For the final solution, however, is the fact that the author during the German staging in Berlin ( 1977), when he led himself with directing, the German actor Klaus Herm earpiece instead of smiles a short scornful laugh ("a single exhale - scornful laugh" ) recommended.