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Night and Day
Written by	Tom Stoppard
Date premiered	November 8, 1978 (1978-11-08)
Place premiered	Phoenix Theatre, London
Original language	English
Subject	Colonialism, the media
Genre	Drama
Setting	The living room of a large colonial house in an African nation

Night and Day is a 1978 play by Tom Stoppard. The play is post-colonial in nature, a satire on the British news media, and an exploration of its discourse. Stoppard employs yet another sub-text in Night and Day, by commenting on the very form of language through his remarks on journalism (Stoppard is a former journalist himself). There is a consistent use of pun and innuendo sprinkled in the dialogues of each character. This kind of linguistic play has marked the playwright for his interest and most keen observations on the aesthetics of language.

The narrative technique merges the forms of fiction and non-fiction, where Stoppard has created an imaginary country called Kambawi, located in Africa, and situated in a post-colonial timespace. The story of the play unveils the politics under which the British media approach the coverage of the impending internal war in this country, through the paradigms of objectivity, factual reportage and the inevitable realities of linguistic manipulation and double meaning.

Characters

• George Guthrie, journalistic photographer, in his forties
• Ruth Carson, in her late thirties
• Alastair Carson, son of Ruth and Geoffrey Carson, eight years old
• Dick Wagner, reporter, in his forties
• Jacob Milne, reporter, in his early twenties
• Geoffrey Carson, wealthy mining magnate
• President Mageeba, around fifty years old
• Francis, the Carsons' black African servant and driver, in his twenties

Plot summary

The first act introduces Guthrie and Wagner, the cynical and self-satisfying photographer and reporter, loyal to the business of journalism over the ideals of free expression. They have arrived to the Carson home at the suggestion of their superiors to make use of their telex and Mr. Carson’s political connections. There is also the arrival of the younger journalist, Milne, who reveals himself to be more of an idealist, was a scab during a union strike at a small English newspaper, and considers journalism “the last line of defense for all the other freedoms” through which “everything is correctable.” We are also introduced to Ruth as she entertains these men while waiting for her husband to arrive. She is presented as having a double-self which communicates her inner thoughts to the audience, and her interactions with other characters reveal the conflicted nature of these thoughts, the memory of her sterile one-time affair with Wagner, and her kindling attraction to Milne at the end of the act, which concludes with the men going off to meet with the rebel leader, Colonel Shimbu.

The second act begins with what reveals itself to be a dream sequence of Ruth’s in which she has a flirtatious exchange with Milne when they return from their trip. Ruth’s double-self leaves the stage after Milne, naked, leaving the ‘real’ Ruth on stage to greet her husband, Wagner, and eventually African President Mageeba. The group of them discuss journalism and democracy as Wagner insists on getting an interview out of the meeting, and Mageeba reveals his idea of free press is one “which is edited by one of my relatives.” Shortly after, Guthrie returns with the news that Milne has been killed, a symbolic sacrifice of the ideals of journalistic integrity. The end of the play leaves Wagner and Ruth alone together, and the suggestion that they might sleep together once more, practicality and compromise victorious over her idealist fantasy with Milne which opened the second act.

Themes

Night and Day engages with themes of colonialism, journalism, language, and alternate or multiple realities. The plot narrative unfolds through the silent or subconscious thoughts of Ruth Carson, who is a by-stander to the main events taking place around her. She is regularly shown to express conflicting ideas between what she is saying, and what she is actually thinking, indicated in the text by the inclusion of a double character, 'Ruth' (quotations included). There is also the question of morality which arises through Ruth’s personal conflicts and the morality of journalism, and the inability for these moralities to be satisfyingly grounded.

As Stoppard was known for his creative interactions with and imitations of Harold Pinter, The play has many similarities with Pinter's The Homecoming. Both include a character named who Ruth experiences an asexually seductive dream sequence, and both also ends with some ambiguity over Ruth’s sexual agency and integrity. These parallels underscore the play's critique of traditional family values and the role and potential of women within these social frameworks.

References

• Demastes, William. The Cambridge Companion to Tom Stoppard. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
• Stoppard, Tom. Night and Day. London: Farber and Farber (1978).

Category:Plays by Tom Stoppard Category:1978 plays