That Time (1976) by Samuel Beckett (Key Facts)

 

That Time (1976)

by Samuel Beckett

(Key Facts) 

Key Facts: That Time (1976) by Samuel Beckett

 

Full Title: That Time

 

Author: Samuel Beckett

 

Type of Work: Radio Play / Absurdist Drama

 

Genre: Absurdist / Experimental / Psychological Drama

 

Language: English

 

Time and Place Written: 1975–1976, Paris, France

 

Date of First Publication: 1976

 

Publisher: Grove Press (US) / Faber and Faber (UK)

 

Tone: Meditative, haunting, introspective, existential

 

Setting (Time): Non-linear, abstract; exists in the continuum of memory rather than chronological time

 

Setting (Place): Abstract, undefined auditory space; no physical locations are depicted

 

Protagonist: The play lacks a traditional protagonist; conceptually, the First Voice (Voice A) functions as the central consciousness or narrative anchor

 

Major Conflict: The tension between memory and forgetting, presence and absence, and the human struggle to reconcile consciousness with the relentless passage of time

 

Rising Action: Fragmented recollections begin through Voice A, with Voice B offering reflections, overlaps, and challenges, gradually establishing a complex, layered dialogue about memory, identity, and mortality

 

Climax: The emotional and temporal density peaks as voices overlap, repeat, and falter; silence intensifies, emphasizing the limits of memory and language and the inevitability of death

 

Falling Action: Voices continue to circle fragments of past moments; repetition and silence underscore continuity without resolution, allowing the audience to linger in reflection

 

Themes:

Memory and the fragility of recollection

The nature and passage of time

Mortality and the ephemeral nature of life

Isolation and the fragmented self

The limitations and power of language

 

Motifs:

Repetition of phrases and moments

Silences as active spaces

Fragmented recollections

Overlapping voices

The persistence of memory

 

Symbols:

Voices as aspects of consciousness and self

Silence as death, absence, and the unknowable

Memory fragments as ephemeral remnants of life

Time as both fluid and inevitable

 

Foreshadowing: The play subtly hints at mortality and the impermanence of experience through repeated allusions to fading recollections, faltering speech, and the gradual layering of memory fragments, preparing the audience for the inevitable unresolved conclusion.