Harold Pinter’s moving play explores the desire for communication. It deals with the themes of mortality, love, loss, separation, and grief. In a comic-melancholic tone, it laments the ruthlessness of family life and the fluidity of memory.
Andy, a dying man, recollects his past from the recesses of his dark bedroom. While mourning his impending death, the ex-civil servant looks back on his life with anger and resentment. Bel, his calm and serene wife, sits by the bedside and nurses him. She accepts Andy’s scorn but finds it hard to forgive his infidelities. The discord between the couple is unmistakable as they exchange sarcastic jibes and describe their dalliance with Maria (who had affairs with both of them). They long for their estranged sons, Fred and Jake, who refuse to return home. The sons exchange cryptic banter about their father, recount his dictatorial attitude, and acknowledge his professional integrity-but do they love him? When Bel makes the last call to reach out to them, they pretend she has dialed the wrong number.
The visiting couple, Ralph and Maria, is peripheral to the play. They discuss the humdrum of their lives, share past anecdotes, and help Andy to endure his decline. Bridget, Andy's daughter, is visible only to the audience. She could be a spectral spirit or, she may be a memory. The seventeen-year-old, who aspired to be a physiotherapist, tiptoes around the house to avoid waking up her parents. She attempts to bridge the chasm that divides her family. Her floating presence and her monologue on 'moonlight,' impart an ethereal quality to the play.
The conflicted characters employ wit and irony to compensate for their deep-seated fears, the repressed grief, and the unspoken anger. Although distance, disillusionment, and death keep them apart, they ache to connect. The play raises several questions. Why do Fred and Jake refuse to visit their dying father? What is the reason for Bridget’s untimely death? It is indeed a coincidence that Pinter severed relations with his son Daniel, about the same time he wrote the play. The enigmatic drama leaves the audience guessing.
