Cliches
Metaphors which permeate so deeply into the public discourse that they become cliches get a bad reputation. But the cliché can serve an important purpose. It becomes shorthand for circumstances that almost universally recognized and in the world of stage drama where time is precious, that shorthand can be an audience’s best friend:
“There’ll be times when we’ve got to operate like a well oiled machine and that’s the sort of thing they can’t prepare you for in training.”
Character Insight
The peculiarities of the use of similes is an effective way for a writer to provide inside into a character for audiences without being too clunky with the exposition. This is even more so in reference to a character like Sgt. Simmonds who is deceptive with his outward persona:
“I’ve been round on this earth about thirty years longer than you have, Ross, and in that time I’ve learned a lot of things. If you want to go on staggering through life like a blind man in a brothel, then that’s your business.”
Stage Directions
The dependence upon stage directions in the printed script—elements of the play which most audiences will never see—varies greatly from playwright to playwright. Shakespeare was famously terse with his stage directions with his most infamous example being a directive to the actor playing a character, “Exit, pursued by a bear.” Standing in stark contrast is the almost Faulkner-esque density of the stage directions in this play which provide psychological context to the action:
(THE SERGEANT goes berserk. It is as if KENNYS words have found the trigger to switch him from controlled to uncontrolled violence. He beats KENNY about the face. ROSS is alarmed. KENNY is shaken.)
Comedy
Metaphorical language is especially effective on the stage because the right delivery hit the comic note to really punch the audience stimulus. A drama like this one which is dependent on tense dramatic situation and explosions of violence really benefits from the comic punctuations a funny image constructed as a simile:
“You’ve been stomping around a like a constipated bear since we arrive, Ross.”
Plot as Metaphor
The so-so theatrical experience rises to the memorable on details like incorporating metaphor into action. The Removalist enters into the action halfway through the drama and his efficient workmanlike demeanor which insists upon completing his job no matter what is going on around him serves a thematic purpose. When he arrives, the apartment setting is cluttered with the accumulation of domesticity. By the time he leaves, the stage is left an almost bare arena in which Simmonds and his deputy attack each other like gladiators. It is a perfect metaphor for the devastation caused by the negative personality traits which have been on display throughout.
