Structures of the unspoken: the theatre of Nathalie Sarraute

Nathalie Sarraute's short intense plays dramatize the inner movements and emotions which she calls tropisms. There is no plot, no surface action in these works, and in this they typify an important trend in twentieth century theatre. The effect of these plays where nothing happens is far from static, however, and this article examines Le Silence and C'est beau to discover how this effect is achieved, how the author creates a variety of tension and a feeling of dramatic momentum. Using the actantial model first proposed by Souriau as an analytical tool it can be shown that within the basic situtation, which does not change, we have a series of microdramas, shifting alliances and conflicts. These are plays about what lies beneath the everyday, and they are structured to maintain a tension, sometimes comic sometimes cruel, between the surface and the depths.