The Balcony
Jean Genet
Introduction
At first glance the play seems to have a chaotic plot, almost delirious.
But a much closer look reveals that the plot might have some cohesion.
But, even after a thorough approach, the plot still seems to lack consistency. It looks like the scenes are disconnected, random and delirious, having no relevance or coherence.
Nonetheless, the play has a great appeal to the audiences around the world, because in reality it is a dream.
It’s the dream of every person in the audience and that is something the writer mentions indirectly and discreetly in the final scene of the play.
What’s more, his notes on the design of the set state it clearly: the stage is an extension towards the audience.
Thus, the play is a recount of a dream and dreams, according to the science of psychotherapy, exist to serve two purposes:
When someone’s asleep, the defenses of the ‘Ego’ are repressed and that’s why he/she can let go while sleeping.
But, messages from the unconscious, which shatter a person’s ‘Superego’ image of himself, mobilize intense emotional charges and wake him up.
In order for his sleep not to be disturbed, some of the ‘Ego’s’ defenses are still operational, even though most of them are in a repressed state, and continue to filter out messages from the unconscious, which are not compatible with the ‘Superego’ image a person has for himself.
For this reason, the unconscious symbolizes its messages in dreams, so that these messages can go through the ‘Ego’s’ defenses and reach the person’s conscious level, even though most of the aforementioned defenses are repressed during sleep.
The unconscious always sends the right message, which if properly interpreted and accepted by the conscious, then the person can withstand to comprehend and contain it.
According to psychotherapy, every element of a dream (a person, an emotional charge, even a material object) is some part of the person that is dreaming and must be interpreted as such, in order for the person’s level of consciousness to rise.
Furthermore, every part of a dream can be analyzed from many different angles and bring different kinds of consciousness to a person. That’s the reason why the writer places mirrors on stage.
There are times that a dream’s content can be taken as having a delusional form.
The difference between delusion and dream is the following: a delusion is perceived, by the person having it, as reality, whereas a dream, upon waking up, is perceived as something non real (happening outside of the person’s world).
Each dream is a symbolized psychic state, since each dream is a photograph of some part of his psyche.
Thus, the play is the dream of someone dreaming and the psychotheatrological analysis will be for that person.
This person will be each spectator from the audience (from now on called ‘the spectator’).
The heroes of the play will be analyzed as the different parts of ‘the spectator’, namely they will all have the same psychic structure (the same parents), but they will play a different ‘role’ in the emotional pattern of ‘the spectator’.
Since, each role in the play mirrors a different part of ‘the spectator’, the play in its entirety mirrors his complete psyche, and thus every person in the audience sees his/hers own psychic parts on stage through this dream-play.
At the end, Irma awakens the audience and sends them back to the real world.
Since the writer knew that the play is a dream (probably his own), but didn’t state it clearly, he chose to protect the play’s plot from the psychic projections of the director and those of the costume and scenic designers, so that the correct (and not a different) message would reach the audience.
Thus, he gave clear directions for almost everything regarding the play’s staging, except the lighting. That he left it up to the discretion of the director, allowing the scenes to have a different emotional charge according to their lighting setup. He did, nevertheless, state that the chandelier must be the center of the lights on the stage.
Correctly, the author states that the play should be staged, completely in accordance, with his elaborate production notes.
But a much closer look reveals that the plot might have some cohesion.
But, even after a thorough approach, the plot still seems to lack consistency. It looks like the scenes are disconnected, random and delirious, having no relevance or coherence.
Nonetheless, the play has a great appeal to the audiences around the world, because in reality it is a dream.
It’s the dream of every person in the audience and that is something the writer mentions indirectly and discreetly in the final scene of the play.
What’s more, his notes on the design of the set state it clearly: the stage is an extension towards the audience.
Thus, the play is a recount of a dream and dreams, according to the science of psychotherapy, exist to serve two purposes:
- They discharge the unconscious from repressed emotional charges, which have been classified as ‘forbidden’ by the ‘Superego’. Namely, when someone restricts himself from feeling forbidden (by the ‘Superego’) emotions and from doing unacceptable deeds, then the unconscious discharges itself through dreams, so that it won’t explode with unpredictable consequences for the person.
- They send messages from the unconscious to the conscious level, so that the person can realize his unconscious parts.
When someone’s asleep, the defenses of the ‘Ego’ are repressed and that’s why he/she can let go while sleeping.
But, messages from the unconscious, which shatter a person’s ‘Superego’ image of himself, mobilize intense emotional charges and wake him up.
In order for his sleep not to be disturbed, some of the ‘Ego’s’ defenses are still operational, even though most of them are in a repressed state, and continue to filter out messages from the unconscious, which are not compatible with the ‘Superego’ image a person has for himself.
For this reason, the unconscious symbolizes its messages in dreams, so that these messages can go through the ‘Ego’s’ defenses and reach the person’s conscious level, even though most of the aforementioned defenses are repressed during sleep.
The unconscious always sends the right message, which if properly interpreted and accepted by the conscious, then the person can withstand to comprehend and contain it.
According to psychotherapy, every element of a dream (a person, an emotional charge, even a material object) is some part of the person that is dreaming and must be interpreted as such, in order for the person’s level of consciousness to rise.
Furthermore, every part of a dream can be analyzed from many different angles and bring different kinds of consciousness to a person. That’s the reason why the writer places mirrors on stage.
There are times that a dream’s content can be taken as having a delusional form.
The difference between delusion and dream is the following: a delusion is perceived, by the person having it, as reality, whereas a dream, upon waking up, is perceived as something non real (happening outside of the person’s world).
Each dream is a symbolized psychic state, since each dream is a photograph of some part of his psyche.
Thus, the play is the dream of someone dreaming and the psychotheatrological analysis will be for that person.
This person will be each spectator from the audience (from now on called ‘the spectator’).
The heroes of the play will be analyzed as the different parts of ‘the spectator’, namely they will all have the same psychic structure (the same parents), but they will play a different ‘role’ in the emotional pattern of ‘the spectator’.
Since, each role in the play mirrors a different part of ‘the spectator’, the play in its entirety mirrors his complete psyche, and thus every person in the audience sees his/hers own psychic parts on stage through this dream-play.
At the end, Irma awakens the audience and sends them back to the real world.
Since the writer knew that the play is a dream (probably his own), but didn’t state it clearly, he chose to protect the play’s plot from the psychic projections of the director and those of the costume and scenic designers, so that the correct (and not a different) message would reach the audience.
Thus, he gave clear directions for almost everything regarding the play’s staging, except the lighting. That he left it up to the discretion of the director, allowing the scenes to have a different emotional charge according to their lighting setup. He did, nevertheless, state that the chandelier must be the center of the lights on the stage.
Correctly, the author states that the play should be staged, completely in accordance, with his elaborate production notes.
General comment:
The play’s plot is unimportant.
Every Image/Scene of the play, every dialogue line, is a distinct psychic photograph where the whole of the dream’s message is boxed in, just like the different sets are boxed in the stage -in front of the eyes of the spectator- from left to right.
The spectator must not give emphasis on the play’s plot.
The core message of the play/dream: «wake up and live», permeates every scene, thus it will be present in the few ones that he/she will remember.
The play’s plot is unimportant.
Every Image/Scene of the play, every dialogue line, is a distinct psychic photograph where the whole of the dream’s message is boxed in, just like the different sets are boxed in the stage -in front of the eyes of the spectator- from left to right.
The spectator must not give emphasis on the play’s plot.
The core message of the play/dream: «wake up and live», permeates every scene, thus it will be present in the few ones that he/she will remember.
Psychoanalytical approach
The main symbol of the dream is the Image; The fake Appeareances.
It is the polar opposite of the spectator’s real Being.
Everything that’s in the life of the person that dreams, is made in order to express and establish his fake Image [i.e. how other people perceive him, as well as how he experiences him/herself through the eyes of others (mirrors)].
The dream’s spectator has experienced endometrium rejection for his own existence (the whole of his attributes).
This is a pattern that has been repeating itself for many generations and will keep on repeating, until a true rebel is found (not a fake one like the leader of the rebels in the play) who will differentiate himself from it.
The pattern is as follows:
It is the polar opposite of the spectator’s real Being.
Everything that’s in the life of the person that dreams, is made in order to express and establish his fake Image [i.e. how other people perceive him, as well as how he experiences him/herself through the eyes of others (mirrors)].
The dream’s spectator has experienced endometrium rejection for his own existence (the whole of his attributes).
This is a pattern that has been repeating itself for many generations and will keep on repeating, until a true rebel is found (not a fake one like the leader of the rebels in the play) who will differentiate himself from it.
The pattern is as follows:
- I, the embryo, have my own attributes (e.g. talents).
- You, the parents, force me to recreate your own fake Image, so that I stand up to your norms.
- I, the newborn child, except my own attributes, I have introjected the attributes of both my mother and my father.
- You, the parents, do not accept your own real attributes and that’s why you have rejected/castrated them. Just like a mirror, you see in me your real attributes, which are not consistent with your fake Image.
- You, the parents, having rejected your own real attributes, you reject mine as well, since they are a mirror of yours.
- I, the child, in order to survive for the first three years of my life, am forced to compromise and suppress instinctively my real attributes. I repel them with the excuse that I don’t yet have the proper footing to express them, since I am in a relationship of dependency with my parents and I cannot survive if they reject me. I have the illusion that I will express my attributes as soon as I get a proper footing for my revolution (adulthood).
- When I become an adult, I am in a constant state of denial, believing that at some point I will get to express my real attributes, where as in reality I am compromising more and more with my self-castration, becoming fully identified with the fake Image of my parents.
- Compromise becomes my second nature and thus I live according to society’s “proper behavior”, which stems from the “social norms”, becoming exactly as others want me, so that they accept me. Throughout my adult life, the “others” are my mirrors. Having denied/castrated my real Being and successfully constructed my fake Image, I have come not to live, but to survive inside a meaningless life, with depression knocking on my door (ante portas).
- I destroy both my life and the life of my children, since they introject me and thus the pattern keeps on repeating itself ceaselessly (Carl Jung: the heaviest burden for a child is the life his/her parents didn’t live).
The Dream perceived as Reality
If the dream’s plot was perceived as a real story, then in it, there would be a brothel with its clients and personnel.
Madame ‘Irma’ organizes events which are part of a main scenario (group sex/partouze) with the generic title Revolution.
The very being of the brothel stems from the existence of the aforementioned scenario.
This is a scenario of illusions, which, complemented by the brothel’s personnel-partners, diligently crafts false images.
The clients perform roles, through which they experience as real the fake images of the scenario; images that are suppressed in real life by the clients’ proper social behavior.
At the end of the play, Madame ‘Irma’ reveals which are the clients and which the brothel’s personnel, since she asks the former to depart.
Madame ‘Irma’ organizes events which are part of a main scenario (group sex/partouze) with the generic title Revolution.
The very being of the brothel stems from the existence of the aforementioned scenario.
This is a scenario of illusions, which, complemented by the brothel’s personnel-partners, diligently crafts false images.
The clients perform roles, through which they experience as real the fake images of the scenario; images that are suppressed in real life by the clients’ proper social behavior.
At the end of the play, Madame ‘Irma’ reveals which are the clients and which the brothel’s personnel, since she asks the former to depart.
The Characters
Comment: the word 'role' appearing below, means a role of the scenario 'Revolution'.
- ‘Irma’
- ‘Carmen’
- ‘Queen’
- ‘Carmen the Guide’
- ‘Bishop’
- ‘Judge’
- ‘General’
- ‘Court Envoy’
- ‘Old Man’
- ‘Roger’ / ‘Fake Plumber’ / ‘Leader of the Rebels’
- ‘Roger’ + ‘Chief of Police’ (Image/Scene 9)
- ‘Chantal’
- ‘Woman’
- ‘Thief’
- ‘Girl’
- ‘Arthur’
- ‘Torturer’
- ‘Georges’
- ‘Chief of Police’ / ‘Hero’
- ‘Reflections of fake mirrors’
- ‘Beggar’
- ‘Slave’
- ‘Three male revolutionaries’
- ‘Three photographers’
Fake Images
- Image/Scene 1-2-3
By reenacting their individual scenarios, they experience the fake image of power/authority through the existence of the partners.
The fake image of the ‘Bishop’ and the ‘General’ is mirrored directly onto the mirror with the carved and gilded frame.
Specifically, the ‘Bishop’ address the mirror directly and he confesses to his reflected idol.
The fake image of the ‘Judge’ is mirrored onto the eyes of the ‘Torturer’ (‘Athur’).
The three fake forms of power/authority (ecclesiastical – judicial – military) seek within their individual scenario, the fake ‘Chief of Police’.
- Image/Scene 4
He experiences a fake image of destitution, with all his movements being mirrored directly onto three mirrors (the roles of the reflected idols are performed by three actors).
His destitution is fake, since, if he was indeed poor, he wouldn’t be able to pay Madame ‘Irma’s’ huge price for enjoying the services of the brothel.
The fake/false image of destitution is enriched by fake flowers and fake lice.
- Image/Scene 5
It is the room, which was reflected onto the mirror of the first three scenes (in the fourth scene the mirror is covered by a large piece of cloth.
There are two fake images in this scene:
A) the brothel’s size.
The brothel does not have many salons, but only one main space where the action takes place and another secondary room where the sets of the various scenarios are boxed together (that is why Genet insists on not having a rotating stage).
In the first three scenes, the same room was reflected by the mirror, which in this scene is revealed to be simultaneously the space where the scenarios take place, as well as the management office and ‘Irma’s’ bedroom.
Two further proofs in support of this claim is, on one hand, the chandelier, which is the same in all the scenes without exception and on the other, ‘Irma’s’ dress, which, thanks to some crowns, is gradually transformed into the Queen’s gown.
Thus, the management office – bedroom – room where the scenarios take place is one unique space, whose decor is adapted to each client’s individual scenario. It is ‘Irma’s’ whole life. It is like the spectator’s life; it is his/her fake reality. Besides, everything takes place on stage is nothing but his/her dream.
B) the ‘Chief of Police’ (‘George’)
This is a role performed by ‘George’, an employee of the brothel, since no client has chosen to play it yet.
'George' vigorously resents this fact, as he is required to play a role which is not desired by any client. Moreover, as ‘Irma’ explains ''his vocation does not have the necessary nobility for her to propose to the dreamers an image that would comfort them "(cop in Paris of the '50s).
- Image/Scene 6
It is one more distinct scenario, which takes place in the main space of the brothel, with the chandelier being ever present. Even though they are supposed to be in the square outside the brothel, ‘Chantal’ says to ‘Roger’, that unless the sector of the northern district succeeds, they will never get out of this brothel.
The client performs the role of the fake plumber, who becomes ‘Roger’ with ‘Chantal’ as his partner.
‘Chantal’ is one of the brothel’s girls, who according to the scenario, embodies the role of an ex whore, that has become the image/soul of the revolution.
‘Roger’, following his individual scenario, is bargaining to sell the image/soul of the revolution (‘Chantal’) and in return get many deficient women, oxen as he himself calls them.
- Image/Scene 7
A group of privileged people, whom are appointed by the ‘Court Envoy’.
Each protagonist takes up the fake power/authority of the role he embodied in his individual scenario. Even ‘Irma’, the manager of the brothel, takes up the role of the Queen.
Fake protagonists in a fake story, which takes place in the one and only space of the brothel, with the chandelier ever present.
The fake story is experienced as real, that is why ‘Irma’ orders them to cover or brake the mirrors, so that no one usurps her fake royal power/authority.
The ‘Chief of Police’ does not seem to take part in the events, but he interferes imperceptibly. This role hasn’t been chosen by a client yet, thus it is performed in a flaccid way by ‘George’, one of the brothel’s employees, who is still discontent with this.
‘Carmen’ does not participate in the event, so that she can bring the protagonists back to reality.
The fake image is complemented by:
- ‘Arthur’s’ fake dead body (he performs the role he was assigned to by ‘Irma’ in the middle of the scene)
- the fake grave
- The ‘Court Envoy’s’ collection of fake medals, which he himself pins on his coat.
- Image/Scene 8
The scenario of the previous scene (7) continues on to this one as well, always taking place in the brothel’s main space, where all the events occur.
The fake image is complemented by the ritualistic appearance of the various roles in a magnificence of a great albeit fake magnitude, since the clothes are all worn out (torn and full of dust).
The ‘Chief of Police’ – ‘Hero’, although he is present, he still does not play a prominent part in this scenario, since he is not a client. Thus he continues to appear without being out of proportion.
The employee of the brothel, who hails the Queen, performs the role of the ‘Beggar’, so that he follows the generic direction of decay, as prescribed by the scenario, i.e. decayed notables / decayed populus (decayed parents / decayed child).
Although the Queen recognizes ‘Chantal’ as an authority, she must die according to the scenario, because her existence is enough to threaten the nomenclature. Anyone that threatens the nomenclature must be killed, as were the desires of the spectator. During his childhood he had to capitulate to the requirements of his parents’ power/authority, whereas in his adult life he yields to the norms of proper social behavior.
- Image/Scene 9
A) The demonstration of power/authority, as it is shown in the ‘General’s’ delirious and depressed description of the nomenclature’s fake parade, which fantasizes of having power/authority.
B) The photographs, which focus on emblems and on specific body parts, composing postures, which corroborate the value of the fake nomenclature’s power/authority.
C) The ‘Bishop’s’, the ‘Judge’s’ and the ‘General’s’ plot against the ‘Chief of Police’ and the Queen with the intention to usurp their power/authority.
D) The mausoleum as described by the ‘Court Envoy’ during scene 7, while he was casting the roles. The mausoleum is, as well, located in the one and only space of the brothel, where the individual scenario of the client ‘Roger’ (fake plumber/leader of the rebels) takes place.
E) The size of the brothel, because ‘Irma’ is fantasizing that she turns off the lights of many different salons, whereas all the switches are in the same room with the chandelier ever present. This is ‘Irma’s’ subjective notion that the brothel is big and thus she daydreams and fantasizes. ‘Carmen’ serves faithfully ‘Irma’s’ fantasy, by consecutively opening and closing the doors of the space, as if there were many, where as in reality they are only two.
Sounds
Some are sound effects of the scenario ‘Revolution’ and others arise from the daily operations of the brothel.
All the aforementioned sounds are effects from the scenario.
‘Carmen’ is a grounded person, who deals with the management of the personnel and the material needs of the business.
Madame ‘Irma’ is a delusional person, permanently dwelling into her illusions.
‘Carmen’, as well as the rest of the personnel, play their roles even if there are no clients in the brothel, so that they don’t disturb Madame ‘Irma’s’ delusional reality.
The proper functioning of the brothel is ensured both by ‘Carmen’s’ grounded management and ‘Irma’s’ delusional fantasies, from which springs her inspiration, a prerequisite for the creation of the various scenarios.
‘Carmen’s’ duty is the seamless operation of the site, while ‘Irma’s’ is the conception of the scenarios. The existence of one is integral to that of the other. For this reason, Genet requires effort to be made so that the apparent rivalry, between 'Irma' and 'Carmen', be felt («I mean who runs - the brothel and the play? Carmen or Irma?»).
All the door bell ringings, besides the seventh one, announce the arrival of real external collaborators of the business.
Sound of machine gun fire: Test of a sound effect from the scenario. Being emotionally charged by the conversation she just had with ‘Carmen’, ‘Irma’ goes into her delusions when she hears the machine gun fire. Because she knows ‘Irma’s’ delusional part, ‘Carmen’ responds to her delirium as if it was reality.
First – second ringing: They fully bring ‘Irma’ into her delirium.
Third ringing: ‘Irma’, amidst her delirium, fantasizes the appearance of a client, who plays the role of a legionnaire.
Fourth ringing: A glimpse outside the delirium. ‘Irma’ is, for just an instance, in contact with the ‘here and now’ and becomes aware both of the real plumber’s departure and of the fact that the brothel is a house of illusions.
Sound of machine gun fire: Test of a sound effect from the scenario. Brings ‘Irma’ back into her delirium.
Fifth ringing: Enriches the delirium. ‘Irma’ has the illusion of the arrival of a client who is disguised as a waiter.
Sound of machine gun fire: Test of sound effect from the scenario. ‘Carmen’ reinforces the delirium of the scenario ‘Revolution’.
Sixth ringing: ‘Irma’ lapses successively from the illusion of the Christ with his following, to that of Rachel with the archer.
Sound of knocking on the door: Entrance of the employee ‘Torturer’. ‘Irma’ hides the machine, because she does not trust him to see her salons.
Seventh ringing: Caused by ‘Irma’ to make ‘Carmen’ go away, so that she remains alone with the employee ‘Chief of Police’. ‘Carmen’ continues to respond to her delirium and leaves.
The sound of ‘Carmen’s’ voice from backstage («lock tightly salon 17»): ‘Carmen’s’ voice is loud, so that ‘Irma’s’ delirium is not disturbed by the noise of the jagged and rusted wheel coming from the maintenance work being done in the brothel. Immediately after, ‘Carmen’ enters the stage announcing the arrival of the ‘Court Envoy’ in the mournful salon. Her goal is, once again, to prevent ‘Irma’ from being distracted by the noise of the wheel, which might disturb her delirious reality.
A muffled sound of a bullet: Test of sound effect from the scenario, which ‘Irma’ perceives as a real event. ‘Carmen’ and both the employees ‘Chief of Police’ and ‘Torturer’, follow faithfully her delirium. Even though the ‘Court Envoy’ is not in the brothel at that moment, ‘Irma’ gets ready to receive him, without moving, in the one and only space of the brothel.
- Image/Scene 1
- Image/Scene 2
- Image/Scene 3
- Image/Scene 4
- Image/Scene 6
- Image/Scene 7
- Image/Scene 8
- Image/Scene 9
All the aforementioned sounds are effects from the scenario.
- Image/Scene 5
‘Carmen’ is a grounded person, who deals with the management of the personnel and the material needs of the business.
Madame ‘Irma’ is a delusional person, permanently dwelling into her illusions.
‘Carmen’, as well as the rest of the personnel, play their roles even if there are no clients in the brothel, so that they don’t disturb Madame ‘Irma’s’ delusional reality.
The proper functioning of the brothel is ensured both by ‘Carmen’s’ grounded management and ‘Irma’s’ delusional fantasies, from which springs her inspiration, a prerequisite for the creation of the various scenarios.
‘Carmen’s’ duty is the seamless operation of the site, while ‘Irma’s’ is the conception of the scenarios. The existence of one is integral to that of the other. For this reason, Genet requires effort to be made so that the apparent rivalry, between 'Irma' and 'Carmen', be felt («I mean who runs - the brothel and the play? Carmen or Irma?»).
All the door bell ringings, besides the seventh one, announce the arrival of real external collaborators of the business.
Sound of machine gun fire: Test of a sound effect from the scenario. Being emotionally charged by the conversation she just had with ‘Carmen’, ‘Irma’ goes into her delusions when she hears the machine gun fire. Because she knows ‘Irma’s’ delusional part, ‘Carmen’ responds to her delirium as if it was reality.
First – second ringing: They fully bring ‘Irma’ into her delirium.
Third ringing: ‘Irma’, amidst her delirium, fantasizes the appearance of a client, who plays the role of a legionnaire.
Fourth ringing: A glimpse outside the delirium. ‘Irma’ is, for just an instance, in contact with the ‘here and now’ and becomes aware both of the real plumber’s departure and of the fact that the brothel is a house of illusions.
Sound of machine gun fire: Test of a sound effect from the scenario. Brings ‘Irma’ back into her delirium.
Fifth ringing: Enriches the delirium. ‘Irma’ has the illusion of the arrival of a client who is disguised as a waiter.
Sound of machine gun fire: Test of sound effect from the scenario. ‘Carmen’ reinforces the delirium of the scenario ‘Revolution’.
Sixth ringing: ‘Irma’ lapses successively from the illusion of the Christ with his following, to that of Rachel with the archer.
Sound of knocking on the door: Entrance of the employee ‘Torturer’. ‘Irma’ hides the machine, because she does not trust him to see her salons.
Seventh ringing: Caused by ‘Irma’ to make ‘Carmen’ go away, so that she remains alone with the employee ‘Chief of Police’. ‘Carmen’ continues to respond to her delirium and leaves.
The sound of ‘Carmen’s’ voice from backstage («lock tightly salon 17»): ‘Carmen’s’ voice is loud, so that ‘Irma’s’ delirium is not disturbed by the noise of the jagged and rusted wheel coming from the maintenance work being done in the brothel. Immediately after, ‘Carmen’ enters the stage announcing the arrival of the ‘Court Envoy’ in the mournful salon. Her goal is, once again, to prevent ‘Irma’ from being distracted by the noise of the wheel, which might disturb her delirious reality.
A muffled sound of a bullet: Test of sound effect from the scenario, which ‘Irma’ perceives as a real event. ‘Carmen’ and both the employees ‘Chief of Police’ and ‘Torturer’, follow faithfully her delirium. Even though the ‘Court Envoy’ is not in the brothel at that moment, ‘Irma’ gets ready to receive him, without moving, in the one and only space of the brothel.
Mirrors
The fake images (roles) are showcased through the scenario. The clients experience the emotional charges of the roles, through the reflections on the mirrors.
In order for the clients to be able to identify with the psyche of the roles, the mirrors, much like psychedelic drugs, expand the clients’ psyche, which is in a state of repression.
The clients, in an emotional level, are alive only when they are in the brothel, otherwise they are emotionally dead.
In the end, it shatters violently, because, unconsciously, everyone is reflected onto this mirror but no one can stand their own real reality.
The mirror opens up and every spectator enters his/hers grave, which is decorated with fake glamor and experienced as a ‘Hero’s’ mausoleum.
In order for the clients to be able to identify with the psyche of the roles, the mirrors, much like psychedelic drugs, expand the clients’ psyche, which is in a state of repression.
The clients, in an emotional level, are alive only when they are in the brothel, otherwise they are emotionally dead.
- Images/Scenes 1-2-3
- Image/Scene 4
- Image/Scene 5
In the end, it shatters violently, because, unconsciously, everyone is reflected onto this mirror but no one can stand their own real reality.
- Image/Scene 6
- Image/Scene 7
- Image/Scene 8
- Image/Scene 9
The mirror opens up and every spectator enters his/hers grave, which is decorated with fake glamor and experienced as a ‘Hero’s’ mausoleum.
Fake – True – Original Details
In the scenarios there are details with specific characteristics, which serve specific functions.
The details are divided as follows:
This is an almost undefined barrier, which prevents both parties from experiencing excessively the passion of the game, thus putting in danger the operation of the business.
On one hand, the whores could experience true emotions for the role played by the client and thus find themselves out of their own role and on the other, the clients, driven by their excessive passion for the game, might become dangerous.
The fake detail, forces both to back down and it is always the same one: garters and stockings.
They consist of the basic equipment, the décor and the costumes prescribed by the scenario.
Pleasing the clients is the basic principle of the business.
The details are divided as follows:
- Fake
This is an almost undefined barrier, which prevents both parties from experiencing excessively the passion of the game, thus putting in danger the operation of the business.
On one hand, the whores could experience true emotions for the role played by the client and thus find themselves out of their own role and on the other, the clients, driven by their excessive passion for the game, might become dangerous.
The fake detail, forces both to back down and it is always the same one: garters and stockings.
- True
They consist of the basic equipment, the décor and the costumes prescribed by the scenario.
- Original
Pleasing the clients is the basic principle of the business.
Decoding the Dream / Interpreting the signs of the Dream
Just like any other dream, this one as well, contains a main message.
The message is clear: The spectator is never going to escape the prison of illusions, in which he is voluntarily incarcerated.
The prison draws its substance from its ability to repeat itself perpetually in an imaginary level, which is perceived as real.
According to ‘Irma’s’ words, «everything will have to start again».
This is a prison of fake pleasures based on fantasies, which are perceived as real experiences.
In the dream, the various parts of the sleeping spectator are manifested.
Each part consists of one or more aspects, which correspond to the characters of the play.
Specifically, four parts are manifested with three aspects each and two parts with just one aspect.
During their interaction with the outside world, the triple parts are expressed either by one or more aspects. When they are expressed by more than one, the various aspects work together, in order to appear in an unifying way.
The parts consisting of one aspect are expressed either with their respective character in the play or its exact opposite.
The parts are:
Acts according to what it perceives as its self-interest, although according to its adult reality, it isn’t.
It fantasizes and acts out scenarios (writer – director – actor), through which it struggles to maintain its self-centered interest and prove that it is something else than what it actually is in reality.
However, the scenarios are damaging the part, because by designing them, it wastes its energy meaninglessly, whereas it could thrive if it didn’t compromise.
It fantasizes scenarios that impress it and it experiences them completely.
It excites others and gets excited by its dazzling scenarios.
It insists on ignoring the objective signs that could bring it back to the real reality.
It supports the scenarios by arranging every single detail.
It depends on the impact its meaningless scenarios have and draws its substance from that impact.
It can easily adjust and accommodate itself in the scenarios of others.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored on the symbiotic, unbreakable and stiff relationships that are based on egocentric love.
A characteristic example of this is the model of the petty bourgeois/middle class family, which fanatically insists in maintaining its unbreakable nature, by punishing and castrating any attempt for defection.
A symbiotic relationship consists of members, which feel that one cannot survive without the existence of the other.
According to ‘Irma’s’ words to ‘Carmen’: «Without him, we would be in trouble now. Yes, we. Because you are tied to me. And to him».
A symbiotic relationship between a mother and an embryo-new born child, is a natural thing to exist, until the child starts to crawl and wishes to move away.
Failure to properly satisfy this normal symbiotic relationship, creates self-centered people, who throughout their adult life cannot be pleased by anything. Their desire is always hungry for more. The thing they feel they need, is always something more than what they want. That which they already have, is never enough.
This is the bedrock of bipolar disorder.
A symbiotic relationship is totally different from an adult relationship of cooperation, in which every member contributes its own share with the ultimate goal being a specific creation.
Consciously subdued to the superego, which is structured based on the parents’ demands.
Demands, which are directly correlated both to social status and to financial standing (prestige – money).
Any action that doesn’t conform either to prestige or money is rejected.
A good illustration of this is mirrored by the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie.
Power/authority stems from the institutional role and not from the true value of the person.
The existence of the subordinate gives substance to the ruler.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by officers of the higher ecclesiastical, judicial and military authorities, by right-wing politicians and by members of exclusive clubs.
It fantasizes that it goes against the status quo, but it is a part of it.
It castrates its true impulses.
It needs an obedient claque in order to experience the authenticity of the revolution.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by all the career driven people without any real skills (kiss-asses), such as wannabe intellectuals, academics, anarchists and leftist politicians.
It feeds off the tendency of others to taste the experience of the revolution.
By organizing fake revolutions, it engages with others and in the end it sucks their blood (energy).
The revolution appears in an immaculate and innocent form, but prostitutes itself by trading with the authorities.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by members of unions.
It is nourished by the egocentric desire of others to be recognizable.
It exploits them by shaping the criteria of acceptance.
It creates expressions (style) according to standards which it defines and enforces. Standards introjected by the parents.
Anything expressed according to these standards is acceptable, while anything that deviates from them is rejected.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by image makers, advertising executives, hairdressers and fashion designers, by the art industry, by journalists and confessors.
In conclusion
The spectator, who is dreaming, has a bipolar structure with a psychotic nucleus.
Depression is knocking on his door (ante portas):
By avoiding any conflicts, he/she experiences his/her own reality, which fits inside the boundaries of the real one.
He/she fantasizes that his/her actions have a meaning, but in reality they are meaningless.
His/Her contact with the real reality is a state of a constant inner conflict, because he/she insists in ignoring his/her real Being.
An extended inner conflict would drive him either to sink into depression, or to escape into madness. In order for this not to happen, he/she shrouds his/her psychic structure with a sadomasochistic character, which protects him from a permanent regression to the pain of his trauma.
The basic elements of sadomasochism are autocracy and submission, which are complemented by a sense of grandeur and a persecution mania.
The roles of the dominator and the dominated are constantly interchanged.
The reason why the spectator has not already sunk into depression or lost inside psychosis is due to a real detail, which keeps his feet on the ground.
The true detail, that acts as a safety measure of the play, is the chandelier, which sheds reality’s light onto the fake life.
While ‘Roger’ is descending into the mausoleum, the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil and a rooster’s crow are heard, both of which disturb him, because, as he himself admits, they remind him of the real life.
These two sounds symbolize, respectively, the class of the farmers and that of the workers, whose absence from the brothel is noticeable. The laborers, which live a difficult life, do not have a place in the brothel. The sound of their labor cracks the delusional world of the brothel. According to Madame ‘Irma’, during her delirium, “these people are virtuous, they don’t come to my salons”.
All without exception, inside and outside the Balcony, are prisoners of repetition and thus the drama of Sisyphus applies to all mortals.
Jean Genet reveals twice in the ninth Image/Scene that the play is a dream:
The message is clear: The spectator is never going to escape the prison of illusions, in which he is voluntarily incarcerated.
The prison draws its substance from its ability to repeat itself perpetually in an imaginary level, which is perceived as real.
According to ‘Irma’s’ words, «everything will have to start again».
This is a prison of fake pleasures based on fantasies, which are perceived as real experiences.
In the dream, the various parts of the sleeping spectator are manifested.
Each part consists of one or more aspects, which correspond to the characters of the play.
Specifically, four parts are manifested with three aspects each and two parts with just one aspect.
During their interaction with the outside world, the triple parts are expressed either by one or more aspects. When they are expressed by more than one, the various aspects work together, in order to appear in an unifying way.
The parts consisting of one aspect are expressed either with their respective character in the play or its exact opposite.
The parts are:
- ‘Irma’ – ‘Carmen’ – ‘Chief of Police’
Acts according to what it perceives as its self-interest, although according to its adult reality, it isn’t.
It fantasizes and acts out scenarios (writer – director – actor), through which it struggles to maintain its self-centered interest and prove that it is something else than what it actually is in reality.
However, the scenarios are damaging the part, because by designing them, it wastes its energy meaninglessly, whereas it could thrive if it didn’t compromise.
It fantasizes scenarios that impress it and it experiences them completely.
It excites others and gets excited by its dazzling scenarios.
It insists on ignoring the objective signs that could bring it back to the real reality.
It supports the scenarios by arranging every single detail.
It depends on the impact its meaningless scenarios have and draws its substance from that impact.
It can easily adjust and accommodate itself in the scenarios of others.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored on the symbiotic, unbreakable and stiff relationships that are based on egocentric love.
A characteristic example of this is the model of the petty bourgeois/middle class family, which fanatically insists in maintaining its unbreakable nature, by punishing and castrating any attempt for defection.
A symbiotic relationship consists of members, which feel that one cannot survive without the existence of the other.
According to ‘Irma’s’ words to ‘Carmen’: «Without him, we would be in trouble now. Yes, we. Because you are tied to me. And to him».
A symbiotic relationship between a mother and an embryo-new born child, is a natural thing to exist, until the child starts to crawl and wishes to move away.
Failure to properly satisfy this normal symbiotic relationship, creates self-centered people, who throughout their adult life cannot be pleased by anything. Their desire is always hungry for more. The thing they feel they need, is always something more than what they want. That which they already have, is never enough.
This is the bedrock of bipolar disorder.
A symbiotic relationship is totally different from an adult relationship of cooperation, in which every member contributes its own share with the ultimate goal being a specific creation.
- ‘Torturer’ – ‘Court Envoy’ – ‘Old Man’
Consciously subdued to the superego, which is structured based on the parents’ demands.
Demands, which are directly correlated both to social status and to financial standing (prestige – money).
Any action that doesn’t conform either to prestige or money is rejected.
A good illustration of this is mirrored by the aristocrats and the bourgeoisie.
- ‘Bishop’ – ‘Judge’ – ‘General’ / ‘Woman’ – ‘Thief’ – ‘Girl’
Power/authority stems from the institutional role and not from the true value of the person.
The existence of the subordinate gives substance to the ruler.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by officers of the higher ecclesiastical, judicial and military authorities, by right-wing politicians and by members of exclusive clubs.
- ‘Roger’ – ‘Chantal’ – ‘Beggar/Slave’
It fantasizes that it goes against the status quo, but it is a part of it.
It castrates its true impulses.
It needs an obedient claque in order to experience the authenticity of the revolution.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by all the career driven people without any real skills (kiss-asses), such as wannabe intellectuals, academics, anarchists and leftist politicians.
- Three ‘Revolutionaries’ (two speaking roles)
It feeds off the tendency of others to taste the experience of the revolution.
By organizing fake revolutions, it engages with others and in the end it sucks their blood (energy).
The revolution appears in an immaculate and innocent form, but prostitutes itself by trading with the authorities.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by members of unions.
- Three ‘Photographers’
It is nourished by the egocentric desire of others to be recognizable.
It exploits them by shaping the criteria of acceptance.
It creates expressions (style) according to standards which it defines and enforces. Standards introjected by the parents.
Anything expressed according to these standards is acceptable, while anything that deviates from them is rejected.
A good illustration of this part is mirrored by image makers, advertising executives, hairdressers and fashion designers, by the art industry, by journalists and confessors.
In conclusion
The spectator, who is dreaming, has a bipolar structure with a psychotic nucleus.
Depression is knocking on his door (ante portas):
- It is vividly described by the ‘General’ in the slowness of the carriage, which carries the nomenclature so the crowd can see them.
- It is being symbolized in ‘Irma’s’ mournful dress, which shows the death of real life, i.e. the death of the real Being. It is a dress which gradually transforms into the outfit of a fake Queen.
- «In the Balcony everything flows inside a slow death».
- The whores dress the clients «as if they cover dead bodies that die perpetually».
- Throughout the city «there is a rumor that the house ousts everyone to their death».
- «I dug you out from a grave» 'Roger' says towards the whore who is the symbol of the revolution.
By avoiding any conflicts, he/she experiences his/her own reality, which fits inside the boundaries of the real one.
He/she fantasizes that his/her actions have a meaning, but in reality they are meaningless.
His/Her contact with the real reality is a state of a constant inner conflict, because he/she insists in ignoring his/her real Being.
An extended inner conflict would drive him either to sink into depression, or to escape into madness. In order for this not to happen, he/she shrouds his/her psychic structure with a sadomasochistic character, which protects him from a permanent regression to the pain of his trauma.
The basic elements of sadomasochism are autocracy and submission, which are complemented by a sense of grandeur and a persecution mania.
The roles of the dominator and the dominated are constantly interchanged.
The reason why the spectator has not already sunk into depression or lost inside psychosis is due to a real detail, which keeps his feet on the ground.
The true detail, that acts as a safety measure of the play, is the chandelier, which sheds reality’s light onto the fake life.
While ‘Roger’ is descending into the mausoleum, the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil and a rooster’s crow are heard, both of which disturb him, because, as he himself admits, they remind him of the real life.
These two sounds symbolize, respectively, the class of the farmers and that of the workers, whose absence from the brothel is noticeable. The laborers, which live a difficult life, do not have a place in the brothel. The sound of their labor cracks the delusional world of the brothel. According to Madame ‘Irma’, during her delirium, “these people are virtuous, they don’t come to my salons”.
All without exception, inside and outside the Balcony, are prisoners of repetition and thus the drama of Sisyphus applies to all mortals.
Jean Genet reveals twice in the ninth Image/Scene that the play is a dream:
- Queen: Who is it?... Our people?... Or the rebels?... Or maybe?....
- It is the time of dawn, when the dreams end and people awake. Although the spectator fantasizes that the play is not about him per se, Madame ‘Irma’, at the end of the paly, turns to the audience and says into everyone’s face: «You must return to your homes, where everything, and have no doubt about that, is more fake than anything in here... It is time for you to go...».
Theatrological Elaboration: Thomas Theologou
Psychotheatrological Analysis: Thomas Theologou/Panos Mavitzis
Psychotheatrological Analysis: Thomas Theologou/Panos Mavitzis