Ficha de lectura
Edgard
Bond
Saved
Published
by Eyre Methuen LTD in London, 1965
Characters
The characters from Saved can be
placed in the working-class. They live in London. The most important characters
are Len, Pam and Mary. Pam and Mary are described before the play starts. Pam
is twenty-three. Thin, heavy and has nodal hips. She has dark hair, a long
narrow face, pale eyes and a small mouth. Marry is the mother of Pam and Barry.
She is fifty-three. She looks homely with curled grey hair, a small length and
too much weight. She is aggressive and hostile to her husband and the rest of
the house. Pam is a unwedded mother and doesn’t care about the baby. She isn’t
responsible almost doesn’t look after it. She has a tough character. Len is one
of the sex partners from Pam and lives as a boarder in the house from Mary and
Harry. He tries to get Pam acting as a mother but this only makes her angry.
She doesn’t care much for Lenny, she prefers Fred, the father of the baby but
he rejects her. Very prominent is the baby from Pam. We hear it wail trough a whole
scene. The characters ignore it. Nobody feels the urge to confort
it. In one scene Pam leaves the baby in the park and it get stoned by Fred and
some friends while Len is watching.
Resume
The play is divided in 13 scenes I will resume from scene to scene.
The first scene takes place in the living room. Len and Pam are making out but
get interrupted several times by Pam’s father, Harry. In the meantime Len
expresses his jealousy on the other lovers Pam has. The scene ends with Harry
leaving and they are at last alone. The second scene takes place in the park.
Len and Pam are in a rowing boat, the act like a couple. She tells him she is
going to knit a jumper for him and tells about her childhood. In scene three
are 5 men having a break in the park. They tell rude jokes and it seems that at
least one of them used drugs. Len comes by and leaves later with Mary to help
her carry her bags. In scene four are we in the living room with Harry, Mary
and Pam. We get to know how the relationship between Mary and Harry works. Mary
puts dinner down for Len. Len comes in and a few minutes later the baby starts
to cry. Pam is too lazy to go get it and the others don’t really seem to care
neither. They just leave it crying. Pam leaves with Fred. Harry reveals that
Len always keeps his door open when Fred is sleeping with Pam. On the advice to
shut it Len says it is for the baby. (while in de meantime the baby still
cries) In the fifth scene Pam is ill in bed. Len tries to get her out of bed
and when that doesn’t work he gets her baby. Pam get very repulsive and at the
end of the scene Len takes it away from her. The sixth scene is in the park Len
and Fred are fishing and later does Mike join them. Pam comes in with the baby
with her in a pram. Fred and Pam start arguing how he fails to show up every
time they have a date and she acts almost like a mother when she talks about
her baby. Fred finally dumps her. Pam walks angry away and leaves the pram. Len
follows her. Pete, Colin and Barry join the group the start to `play´ with the
pram. They start pulling its hair, pinching, punching and hitting it. At the
end they start throwing stones to the baby. Fred starts but they all follow.
Mike throws burning matches. When a bell start ringing they go away. Pam comes
back to get the pram and doesn´t look inside it. In
scene seven does Fred blame Pam for what happened because she left the pram
with them. Len comes in too and tells that he has seen every thing from a tree
but didn´t dare to intervene. He also tells Fred that
the police wants to see him. In the next scene Fred is about to get out of
prison. Pam is going to see him. She says to Len he can’t come with her, he
blames it on him that Fred is in prison. I scene nine Mary is going out and Len
helps her dress. They talk about Pam an women in general. The tenth scene takes
place in a café where Len and Pam are waiting for Fred. Fred enters with his
friends and Liz. He tells them how it was inside and that he god the letters
from Pam. Len wants to know how it felt, killing the baby. Fred doesn’t want to
answer but says he wasn’t alone. During this scene Pam makes clear to Fred that
he is still welcome. In scene twelve are Harry and Mary arguing. Mary is
talking about her house with her things and that Harry should get his own
stuff. Harry blaming her that she is going with Len. He threatens her to stop
giving her money. Mary hits him with a teapot. Len and Pam come in. Pam gets
emotional. PAM (crying). No ‘ome. No friends. Baby dead. Gone. Fred gone. (p. 113) Scene twelve is later that night. Len is
listening on the floor to hear what happens in Pam’s bedroom. Harry comes in
who tries to convince Len to stay in the house and not to leave because the
women want that. In the last scene we see everyone doing his own thing in the
living room. Len comes in and starts to fix the chair that broke the day
before.
Space and Time
Most of the scenes take place in the living room. Bond describes the living
room as following: The front and the two
side walls make a triangle that slopes to a door back centre. Furniture: table
down right, sofa left, TV set left front, armchair up right centre, two chairs
close to the table. (p. 11) Only the necessary things are present. The
house is situated in South London. Besides the living room we also get to see
the bedroom of Pam and the of Len. Three scenes take place in the park. Bond
gives instructions to keep the stage as empty as possible. In the first scene
in is there only a rowing boat. In the other scenes is the stage bare. We only
see the things the characters have brought with them. The bare staged creates
an unloving atmosphere, an atmosphere that fits in this play. Time doesn’t play
a significant role in this play. Bond gives almost no references to what day it
is. The story is chronologically told, but often we don’t get to know how many
time passed for the characters between scenes.
Language
The language differs from the language in the other place. Edward Bond has written
the play in lower class English. MIKE. What time they bury the bugger? PETE.
Couldn’t tell yer. COLIN. Don’ yer
wan’a go? PETE. Leave off! ‘Oo’s
goin’ a make me time up? (p. 28) All characters are
part of this class and talk this way.
©2004 A.N. van der Plas