THE NEVER- NEVER NEST: CHARACTER SKETCH OF JACK

                            

    Jack is an easy-going person. He is an ingenious man since he is fooled by the advertisements on easy monthly instalments. He lacked worldliness as he seems to be unaware of difficulties which would fall on him shortly because of these instalments. Though it is good that he bought the house on instalments, buying luxuries too on instalments is not the right thing to do.

 "Jack: You see, Aunt Jane, we realized how uneconomic it is to go on paying rent year after year when you can buy & enjoy a home of your own for ten pounds ....... " 

    It is quite wise to purchase the house on instalment because if he had been a tenant, then he would have to pay rent to the landlord every month, & one day he has to leave the house & move to another. But, since he has taken a loan on his house, he would be paying monthly instalment to the bank & then a day will come when he would own the house completely. But, he should have considered his monthly income before buying this house even on instalments. His monthly income is six pounds & what he has to pay every month is ten pounds. He could have brought a small house in a not so good part of Britain, but he acted foolishly by buying an expensive villa in a posh area like New Hampstead. His gratification for leading a standard life made him a spendthrift. He had the responsibility of wife Jill & a baby, & then too he acted unwisely. 
     He seems to be very influenced by the endorsements around him. He, in fact, seem to be quoting advertisements. He brought a house, a radiogram, a piano, furniture, a car & even the baby on instalments. He has to pay seven pounds eight & eight pence a week. When Aunt Jane asks him how he will pay this amount of money out of his income of six pounds, he modestly says of borrowing more money.

"Jack: .......... all you have to do is to borrow the rest of the money for the payments from the Thrift & Providence Trust Corporation."

      He is in-cognizant of the vicious, never-ending circle. He doesn't seem to realize the after-effects of taking a loan. He was a loving husband & doing well in his job.

"Jill: ....... Why, only last year he had a five-shilling rise ......

 Jack (modestly) : ...... I'm expecting ten this Christmas."

     Though he is grateful to Aunt Jane because she gave the couple a cheque of two hundred pounds as a wedding gift & then later, a cheque of ten pounds, he seems to be offended by her hysterical behaviour & calls her 'a tartar' when she is gone. He didn't unmask his attitude towards her, instead, he said "we owe it all to you", showing his gratitude towards her.

THE NEVER- NEVER NEST: THE THEME OF THE PLAY

        "The Never- Never Nest" centres around the popular modern practice of living through hire- purchase system, which enables the low- income group to have things, which they cannot at once buy with their money. This system makes people extravagant. It encourages lavishness & taking the loan.

           Purchasing things on instalments is easy, but to pay back is difficult. It is like struggling under the burden of the loan until it is paid off. The couple in the play, Jack & Jill acted ostentatiously by purchasing luxuries such as a car, radiogram, piano. This shows their indulgence rather than their necessity. Their desire for a sumptuous lifestyle compelled them to take a loan. Though they lived in voluptuous magnificence in the present day, they will have to suffer the encumbrance of paying back a huge amount of money altogether in the near future.

           The play is a satire on the materialistic bent of the modern man.

THE NEVER- NEVER NEST: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE ---"THE NEVER- NEVER NEST"

       "The Never- Never Nest", whose playwright is Cedric Mount, is a one-act play, depicting a naive couple Jack & Jill, who bought each & every luxury of life on instalments & are living cheerfully without even being aware that they would be struggling under the burden in the near future.

         The title of the play ---- "The Never- Never Nest" has two 'never' in it, ensuring that the nest would never be built. The double negative is emphasizing the impossibility of home. The 'nest' in the title, literally refers to the home of birds. Birds make their home by collecting straws & twigs of various trees. The nest acts as their temporary home as they do migration with respect to the changing weather conditions. Also, they are not safe, as different animals might attack their nest anytime. The same is the case with Jack & Jill.

         The word 'nest' is a suggestion of instability. It is suggesting a temporary home. The couple can be attacked by the money-lenders anytime if the instalments are not paid on the designated time.

         Moreover, they have not just purchased the home on instalments, rather they brought each & everything of the house like furniture, piano, radiogram & even the car on instalments. At the end of the play, humour takes on wings when we got to know that the couple had their baby on instalments.

"Jill: ........just one more instalment & BABY'S REALLY OURS !" 

          Since every opulence of their life is based on buy- now-pay-later marketing system, they were not secure at all. The family's income is very low as compared to the total instalment which is to be paid every week.

"Aunt Jane: .........How can you pay seven pounds eight & eight pence out of six pounds" 

          This situation tells that if anytime they would be unable to pay the instalments, they might have to leave the house, which simply shows the insecurity of the luxuries of their life.

          The word 'nest' in the title may also be interpreted as a source of humour, especially satire, which the playwright tried to bring. Birds take a lot of time to build their nest as they have to collect several straws & twigs from different places. They work very hard. But, in this play, both Jack & Jill show their instant gratification for luxuries & had brought them on instalments without saving any money. That is, the word 'nest' acts as a contrary word for such a house.

           Therefore, the title of this act is appropriate as it connotes the theme of the act ---- the pathetic condition of the couple, leading a luxurious life on an instalment basis under their charming nest, which is too on easy monthly instalments.

THE ONE-ACT PLAY

1. Brief Historical Survey                   

           One-Act plays were written & staged throughout the 18th & 19th centuries as "The Curtain Raisers" or "The After Pieces". They were chiefly farcical & served to amuse the audience before the commencement of the actual drama or were staged for their amusement just after it had come to an end.

          The famous one-act play "Monkey's Paw" was first staged as a 'Curtain Raiser' & it proved to be more entertaining than the main drama. It may be said to mark the beginning of the modern one-act play.

         The origin of the one-act play may be traced to the very beginning of drama ---- in ancient Greece, Cyclops, a play on the forest God, by Euripides, is an early example.

        It was great Norwegian dramatist Ibsen, who, for the first time, introduced the minute stage-directions into the one-act play. Before him, one-act plays were written in poetry, but he made prose the medium of his one-act plays. In short, he made the drama, simple & real, & brought it nearer to everyday life. He made the modern one-act play what it is & his example has been widely followed. George Bernard Shaw & John Galsworthy are two of his greatest followers.

         The one-act play requires no elaborate setting & costumes, & so comes in handy to be staged in amateur dramatic societies & clubs.

          One-act plays by major dramatists -----

 (i)  Anton Chekhov ----- A Marriage Proposal (1890)

 (ii) August Strindberg -----Pariah (1889)

                                        Motherly Love (1892)

                                        The First Warning (1892)

 (iii) Thornton Wilder ----The Long Christmas Dinner (1931)

 (iv) Eugene Ionesco ---- The Bald Soprano (1950)

 (v)  Arthur Miller ----A Memory of Two Mondays (1955)

 (vi) Samuel Beckett ---- Krapp's Last Tape (1958)

 (vii) Israel Horovitz ----Line (1974)

 (viii) Edward Albee ---- The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (2002)

2. Chief Characteristics

(i) The one-act play is a play that has only one act but may consist of one or more scenes.

(ii) One-act plays are usually written in a concise manner.

(iii) It deals with a single dominant situation, & aims at producing a single effect.

(iv) It deals with only one theme developed through one situation to one climax in order to produce the maximum effect.

(v) It treats the problems of everyday life like marriage, punishment for crimes, labour conditions, divorce, etc.

(vi) The one-act play, like the longer drama, should have a beginning, a middle & an end. It may be divided into four stages: The Exposition, The Conflict, The Climax & The Denouement.

                   

       The exposition is usually brief, serves as an introduction to the play.

       It is through the conflict that the action of the drama develops. It is the very backbone of the one-act play.

       The climax is the turning point of the drama. It is an important part of the one-act play & constitutes its moment of supreme interest.

       The Denouement is very brief & often overlaps with the climax.                       

 

(vii) The action begins right at the start of the play.

(viii) There are no breaks in the action, that is, it is continuous since its a short play; no intervals.

(ix) Everything superfluous is to be strictly avoided as the play is short & the action takes place within a short period of time. It introduces elaborate stage directions to minimize the time taken by the action itself.

(x) The creation of mood, or atmosphere is indispensable to its success.

(xi) There are three dramatic unities which are observed in the one-act play. The unities are ---- the unity of time, unity of place & the unity of action.

(xii) It aims at the simplicity of plot; concentration of action & unity of impression. It does not rely on spectacular effects & common dramatic tricks of old.

(xiii) The characters in a one-act play are limited in number. Generally, there are not more than two or three principal characters.

(xiv) There is no full development of character. All the different aspects of a character are not presented. The attention is focused on only one or two salient aspects of character & they are brought out by placing the characters in different situations & circumstances. The author implies the past & intimates the future of a character by presenting a crucial moment in the life of that character.

(xv) There is an influence of realism. The characters in modern one-act play are ordinary men & women. It depicts characters that seem to be real & related to everyday life.

(xvi) It must present a question, for which the audience eagerly awaits the answer.

(xvii) Its language is simple & can be followed without any strain. All superfluity is to be avoided in the dialogue. The dialogue must be purposeful; the best dialogue is that which does several things at one time. Every word is to be carefully chosen & sentences must be compact & condensed. Effort should be made to say, whatever is to be said, in the least possible words. Thus, the language of the dialogue should be simple, brief & easy to understand. Long speeches & arguments & long sentences would be out of place & would lessen the charm & interest of the play.