Using Endgame And Top Girls As Your Starting Point, Examine The Ways In Which Departures From Theatrical Naturalism Are Used To Develop The Main Themes Of These Plays.

Theatrical naturalism refers to the act of using dramatic techniques to create the illusion of reality. A plays themes and key points can often be better portrayed through the unreal, certain themes perhaps benefiting from the flexibility a lack of reality allows. Two such examples can be seen in Thomas Beckett's Endgame and Caryl Churchill's Top Girls where both play writes exploit departures from reality to better develop or in some cases allow the existence of certain themes and ideals.

Structurally Endgame is a departure from naturalism in so far as it completely lacks any traditional narrative devices. It is similar to Beckett's earlier play Waiting for Godot as it focus is simply on one situation and a small number of characters who go through the situation with little or no motivation towards a goal or resolution, other than of Clov's wish to leave. The intention of this minimalist structure and plot in Endgame is to better promote the idea of ending and mortality. The characters have no motivation or event based narrative because they are simply waiting for the end of their lives which comes in many ways with the end of the play. Beckett gives the audience an indication as how the play is to develop with Clov's opening line

Clov: Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished

Certainly at the end of the play we are left questioning whether or not this routine of hanging onto life ever finishes. Beckett leaves the end with no resolution at all although Clov is seen to finally leave Hamm the audience is never shown him leaving. In some productions directors actually had Clov stop in the doorway standing still rather than actually exiting the stage. This with the repetition in the language allows for the development of another of the plays main themes and of Hamm's greatest fear that of continuation and resurrection, that rather than finally finish, the routine will simple begin again in the morning. This entire metaphor within a play, which seemingly lacks any structure or plot, creates meaning and the dramatic device allowing the characters to play out their last "game".

In Top Girls Churchill presents many of her themes through a great number of characters and the similarities they share thematically, such as action and consequence, success and failure and of course feminism. To do this she departs from the standard notion of linear narrative and jumps forward and backward in time throughout. Often these jumps move to stories and events completely unrelated to that of the main narrative in order to portray further characters which display the necessary ideals. An example would be Jeanine who displays a character looking for success in a job but would like to retain the traditional identity of a woman and aims to work but be married and have a child.

Jeanine: Id like a job where I was here in London and with him and everything but now and then - I expect that's silly. Are there jobs like that?

She allows the development in the themes of feminism and success although the short interview itself is unrelated to the plot development and without link to time within plot. The flashback at the end of the play is to show how the actions taken by Marlene who seemingly made all the right decisions to become a "top girl" have had negative consequences on her family and self. The consequence is that she had to give up her biological child Angie to her sister Joyce. The opening section is the major departure from naturalism in the play, although it ties in structurally with the main story, that of Marlene's new job the dinner being a celebration in recognition.

The situation presented to us in Endgame is the dramatic presentation of the last few moves in a chess game. The last moves involving the king and few remaining pieces is termed as the "Endgame" and requires a significant change in tactics. The king who within is represented by Hamm changes from a piece who must be protected at all times to one with power but can still only move with the aide accompanying pieces. In this case Hamm is left with Clov his knight and his parents Nagg and Nell as pawns. Indeed this was displayed on the stage and by Beckett, Hamm orders his paws letting them known when to move however Hamm himself can only move around the room when Clov pushes him, also much of position and being central to the set is made by Hamm throughout. In many ways this is as far as the plot to Endgame goes, it can be seen simply as a translation of the ending in chess to that of the ending in life. It also however allows the theme of dependence to develop, as in an Endgame all the pieces are dependent on one another for protection or in this case life. Hamm is blind and can't walk but knows the code to the larder; Clov can walk and needs the food so acts as the king's knight, Nagg and Nell represent pawns which the king orders about. The end comes and is displayed throughout with Clov's constant desire to leave, once he does the characters that can't function without each other will cease to exist. Within an Endgame in chess stalemates are easily possible hence the open ending and references to continuation that hint the situation never actually finishes.

The unusually placed characters in the opening act of Top Girls are all perfect representations of the themes which Churchill is portrays throughout. Although unnatural in their existence and interaction they all have stories to tell which allow them within their own context to develop the underlying themes. Feminism and identity which is perhaps the plays main underlying theme is the common trait amongst all of the characters speeches. Pope Joan for example typifies the idea of a woman in male role losing

her position and ultimately being killed for being a woman and having a child. Lady Nijo portrays the differing view a woman using her femininity to gain success before becoming independent of it as a nun. Griselda portrays that of the female submitting completely to patriarchy allowing her powerful husband to have her children killed as a sign that she truly loved him.

Griselda: But of course a wife must obey her husband. And of course I must obey the Marquis.

The way in which the characters interact is done so with dramatic realism save for perhaps Gret who stays quite until the end. The fact that these out of context characters are able to interact as normal and as perhaps friends of Marlene, is in itself unnatural as the audience would expect unusual reactions to settings and differences. However the simplicity in which they act allows for the speeches to better portray their individual stories and so helps