F*ck Symbolism

We left at intermission last night of "The Hothouse."

Harold Pinter plays, as some of you may or may not know, are more about the experience and the feeling the audience gets and not necessarily about walking you through a storyline from A to B. Pinter doesn't resolve, he raises questions that go unanswered and he often leaves you to think about concepts without any specific guidance on the argument he is making (if he is making an argument at all).

Art for art's sake and all that.

Having seen the Dumb Waiter earlier this year, Suz and I were prepared. We knew that we weren't going to get answers and thought we could handle it but by intermission we just couldn't be bothered anymore.

"This is going to leave us frustrated. I can tell."

So we went to the bookshop, read the last 10 pages of the play and then went to Oxo Tower for the fantastic view and a glass of rose.

Problem solved.

Turns out as much as we'd like to think we are the sophisticated theatre types, we actually like our plays with a beginning, and end, and clear storyline. We like to try to figure it out and be right when we get to the end. We want character development, we want to be shocked and awed, we want a damn argument to be made so that we can vehemently agree or disagree and discuss it afterward. I don't want to leave with a "feeling" and unanswered questions. That's just annoying.

So as Suz so eloquently put it, "F*ck symbolism." Direct and to the point.

I like it.