Stephanie Gamarra December 26, 2005

Group: A

The Play,

“Party Time”

“Party time”, is a play written by the famous playwright Harold Pinter. This play was first published by Faber in Faber in 1991, London.

In this short play we are introduced to the following character: Terry, Gavin, Dusty, Melissa, Liz, Charlotte, Fred, Douglass and Jimmy. In my opinion there are no main characters although out of these nine characters we can say that Melissa is most important one. Melissa is an old woman in her seventies, who is new in the club. We can say that this character although we don’t have a lot of information, is quite lonely, but very really active. Terry is a 40 year old man who is married to Dusty. Terry spends most of the play talking about how wonderful is the club in which he belongs to. He has known Melissa for more the 30 years. Gavin is a man in his fifties who is the host of the party. Dusty is a woman in her twenties whose Terry’s wife. She is a very cheerful lady who throughout the play asks for the whereabouts of her brother Jimmy. Liz is a woman who is in her thirties and who is married to Douglas. She as her husband says a very responsible woman who takes care of everything and who can handle a lot of things at a time, like taking care of her children and the house. Charlotte is a woman in her thirties who has recently lost her husband. She is Liz’s friend. Also we can add, although the in the play it doesn’t confirm that Charlotte and Fred had an affair in the past. Fred is a man in his forties who good looking and who is really fond of Charlotte. He is also very good friends with Douglas. Douglas is a 50 year old man who is married to Liz and who seems to be rich due to the fact that he owns an island. Last but not least, Jimmy is a young man. The only thing that we know about him is that he is Dusty’s brother. He only appears in the last scene.

The play is about a party in which all these characters attend, although some separate in small groups. The main topic in which all these characters talk about is about the club in general which is very classy. Everyone agrees that it is a privilege to belong to this club. Both Melissa and Terry are the ones who explain everything about the club and their installations. This topic is the most important topic, but in each group of friends different topics are spoken of like, the death of Charlotte’s husband, the conversation between both Charlotte and Fred, the scene where the married couple Fred and Liz comment each other, etc. At the end, all the characters seem to be together and Jerry takes the opportunity to complement the club. Melissa adds to this by commenting in her past experiences in clubs she has been too, and her moral values. At the end of the play, Jimmy makes a surprising entrance. He acted in a strange and funny way which wasn’t explained in the play.

The setting where the play takes place is in one specific, closed and simple area, Gavin’s flat.

The time in which the play takes place is not mentioned anywhere in this one-act play. The only information given to us is that the play takes place during the night. The play is written in verse and is very simple, which makes it easier for the reader to understand.

Other aspects that we can see throughout the play are the economical and technical aspects. Since there weren’t any change in the scenery we can conclude that this play had a low cost in production. It wasn’t necessary to buy any kind of extra objects or furniture to decorate the stage, so this made it very easy for this play’s production.

In my opinion, I think that this play was quite simple and not that entertaining. Also, I find that the character of Jimmy is very unnecessary in the play. His presence only distracts the reader.