A Resounding Tinkle

by N.F. Simpson

It would be wrong to say nothing surprises the Paradocks, Bro and Middie. It's just that they take in their stride the things that would surprise us. The elephant in their garden, for instance, has actually been ordered, but this year the shop has made a mistake and sent the wrong size.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Norman Frederick Simpson was an English playwright closely associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. His first play A Resounding Tinkle (1957) was produced at the Royal Court Theatre and many of his most famous plays, including The Hole (1958), One Way Pendulum (1959) and The Cresta Run (1964) were staged at the Royal Court. Simpson published several novels and wrote many sketches and comedy pieces for radio and television.

Reviews

[وائل المنعم · Rating 1 out of 5]

المسرحية في أفضل وصف لها مجرد تقليد سخيف لأعمال يوجين يونسكو تفتقد لأي عنصر امتاع أو أصالة وحتى سماعها بأصوات ممثلين مميزين لم يساعدها.

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was in a production of this back in 1966, at university, UCSB. It was some grad student's Master's thesis production. I was First Cleaner. Michael Douglas (yes, that Michael Douglas) was First Comedian. (No, we didn't keep in touch. He was 2 or 3 years ahead of me; we weren't "in touch" to start with.) And I *think* the one we did was the shortened, one-act version. At least, some bits of this seemed quite familiar and other bits not at all. But then, after 56 years, who knows.

Anyhow. It hasn't aged particularly well. The absurd humour can't be as surprising as it might once have been. I read somewhere that N.F. Simpson was one of the influences on the Monty Python crew, and you can see that for sure (but they did it better). It all seems a bit forced now. As it happens, the one bit I remembered all these years was when The Paradocks are expecting "Don" and a young woman walks in. Mrs. P says "Don, you've changed your sex" and Don says, "Didn't you get my telegram?" How differently that bit would be received today, compared to 1957. Actually, it's hard to imagine anybody putting it up today.

[Julian Munds · Rating 1 out of 5]

How can authenticity be discovered? I found myself thinking this while reading the play. This play feels inauthentic, like Simpson is trying to emulate writers better then him. It doesn't work. It hangs so where between farcical comedy and parody. It's not a play of Theatre of the absurd. There's too much logic. It's perhaps a play parodying absurdity.

[Hamed · Rating 4 out of 5]

مسرحية رائعة من روائع مسرح العبث

[Ahmad El-Saeed · Rating 1 out of 5]

في الواقع.. مفهمتش اي حاجة.. بس كدا

[Abdullah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Definitely
I didn't read anything worse than this one