The Birthday Party

The play is set in a run-down seaside boarding house run by Petey and Meg Boles, a married couple in their sixties. It’s morning, and Petey enters from outside. He sits at the table and reads a newspaper. Meg enters and greets him eagerly, as if she has been waiting for his arrival, and initiates her daily routine of housewifely attention. She brings his cornflakes, already prepared, and earnestly peppers Petey with trivial questions: “Are [the cornflakes] nice?” (9), “What does [the paper] say?” (10), “Is it nice out?” (10). Petey responds agreeably and with patience to each one. A thirty-something man named Stanley Webber, a former pianist, has also been staying with the Boles for the past year, and when Meg wonders if Stanley is awake, Petey doesn’t know. Petey relays a birth announcement in the paper, and Meg asks for details, finding it disappointing that the baby is a girl rather than a boy. Meg announces that she has more for him and presents a plate of fried bread. Before Petey can try it, Meg asks, “Is it nice?” (12). Meg watches intently as he eats.

Petey mentions that he met two men on the beach the night before who were looking for a place to stay.