Le Ping-Pong (Ping Pong) – 1955 by Jean Arthur Adamov (List of Characters)

 

Le Ping-Pong (Ping Pong) – 1955

by Jean Arthur Adamov

(List of Characters) 

The play features a relatively small set of characters, many of whom function less as fully developed individuals and more as representatives of attitudes, roles, or social types within the world of the play.

 

Victor

Victor is one of the two central characters. He is deeply fascinated by the pinball machine and becomes increasingly obsessed with understanding and mastering it. His curiosity gradually turns into fixation, shaping his ambitions and decisions throughout the play.

 

Arthur

Arthur, Victor’s close companion, shares the same growing obsession with the machine. He participates in discussions, plans, and later business ventures connected to it. Like Victor, he is driven by the belief that the machine can be controlled and perfected.

 

Mme Duranty

She is a café owner or manager figure who represents the everyday, practical world. Her presence grounds the setting in routine life, contrasting with Victor and Arthur’s abstract ambitions and growing obsession.

 

M. Duranty

Associated with Mme Duranty, he is part of the café environment and contributes to the sense of ordinary social life. His role helps establish the background of normalcy against which the main action unfolds.

 

Sutter

Sutter is connected with the business side of the pinball machines. He represents commercial interests and introduces the realities of profit, competition, and industry into Victor and Arthur’s world.

 

Annette

Annette adds a personal and emotional dimension to the play. She is connected to the central characters but remains somewhat secondary to their obsession, highlighting how personal relationships are overshadowed by their fixation on the machine.

 

Other Minor or Functional Characters

Various secondary figures appear at different points, often linked to the café or the business world. These characters contribute to the atmosphere of society and reinforce the broader setting in which the main action takes place.

 

Note:

The characters in Le Ping-Pong are not developed in a deeply psychological manner. Instead, they often serve symbolic or functional roles, helping to express the play’s central concerns about obsession, repetition, and the human desire for control.