Saved
by Edward Bond
On This Page
Description
Set in London in the sixties, the action of 'Saved' takes place amidst the cultural poverty and frustration of a generation of young people on the dole and living on council estates. The play opens on Len and Pam preparing to have sex and asking each other their names. Pam's parents are deadlocked in a stultified, silent marriage. Len stays with the family as a lodger despite being rejected by Pam, in order to keep an eye on her neglected baby. Pam leaves the baby with Frank, whom she claims show more is its father, leading to one of modern theatre's most shocking scenes. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Yesterday night, I saw the play "Saved", by Edward Bond, with 2 friends of mine. It was translated in Greek, but I'm sure it doesn't lose anything of the original English text in the translation, which was excellent. The play lasted a little more than 3 hours, which in itself was exhausting. So, one first comment is that, while "Saved" is good writing, & the characters come alive...still, why 3 hours? Definitely overlong, in my opinion.
"Saved" is basically the story of a family. A father & mother, who hate each other & won't even address each other by name, but still live in the same house. Their daughter, who is a very sick young woman, maybe suffers from bipolar disorder & clearly has severe psychological problems. This woman, Pam, show more forms a relationship with a young man (Len) who seems kind of a loser, but is kind & caring nontheless. In the beginning, they promise that they'll be different from Pam's parents...but of course, this promise soon, too soon, is forgotten. Still, Len is the only person that stands by Pam, when she's most in need, & even after she falls desperately in love with another man, who couldn't care less about her.
The rest of the story I won't reveal. "Saved" is basically the story of extreme unhappiness in one family, a family that choses silence & sometimes loud, violent fights over talking & trying to communicate. They don't know HOW to communicate, all they know is shouting, hating, throwing things & crying. This is a very sad (but powerful) play, very violent at parts, which is the reason for the 3 stars: I can understand & appreciate characters with problems. But there's one scene which has to do with a baby, which broke my heart while I was watching it, & which I can't seem to get over. I know it is a powerful scene, & I know that many people might argue that it's the most meaningful scene in the play. But I just found it too cruel to be meaningful. show less
"Saved" is basically the story of a family. A father & mother, who hate each other & won't even address each other by name, but still live in the same house. Their daughter, who is a very sick young woman, maybe suffers from bipolar disorder & clearly has severe psychological problems. This woman, Pam, show more forms a relationship with a young man (Len) who seems kind of a loser, but is kind & caring nontheless. In the beginning, they promise that they'll be different from Pam's parents...but of course, this promise soon, too soon, is forgotten. Still, Len is the only person that stands by Pam, when she's most in need, & even after she falls desperately in love with another man, who couldn't care less about her.
The rest of the story I won't reveal. "Saved" is basically the story of extreme unhappiness in one family, a family that choses silence & sometimes loud, violent fights over talking & trying to communicate. They don't know HOW to communicate, all they know is shouting, hating, throwing things & crying. This is a very sad (but powerful) play, very violent at parts, which is the reason for the 3 stars: I can understand & appreciate characters with problems. But there's one scene which has to do with a baby, which broke my heart while I was watching it, & which I can't seem to get over. I know it is a powerful scene, & I know that many people might argue that it's the most meaningful scene in the play. But I just found it too cruel to be meaningful. show less
I think this may have overtaken Blasted and Cleansed as the most disturbing thing I've ever read.
Versione italiana di Gigi Lunari: "Salvo"
Dec 7, 2013Italian
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Harold Bloom - The Western Canon: D. The Chaotic Age
833 works; 24 members
Author Information
94+ Works 1,260 Members
Because of its pivotal scene, which involves the stoning to death of a baby by a gang of young toughs in a London park, Edward Bond's first major production, Saved (1965), was banned in its entirety by the Lord Chamberlain. In drawing attention to the plot, the censor drew attention away from the play's techniques. A distracting violence is still show more the center of Bond's works Early Morning (1968), The Sea ( ), and The Bundle (1978). Bond's violence is not simply an image of evil or crude dramatic shock. It is meant as something to come to terms with intellectually, or even-as in The Bundle-to be agreed to, as the price of effective action. In its obviousness, Bond's brutality challenges the audience to acknowledge its own hidden, structural ruthlessness. The playwright's ideas, however, often seem inadequately worked out and inadequately expressed in prefaces that share nothing of the vivacity and clarity of those of George Bernard Shaw. Bond has never lost touch with an impressive stiff poetry of the stage, which is most evident in Bingo, about Shakespeare's last days, and The Fool (1976), about the madness of the poet John Clare. Among Bond's more recent works are The Worlds (1979), and a trilogy, The War Plays (1985). (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Has as a student's study guide
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Saved
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 141
- Popularity
- 232,992
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.05)
- Languages
- Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 13
- ASINs
- 7
