John Boynton Priestley wrote his debut play in 1932. "Dangerous turn" loudly ascended the theatrical stage and gained popularity. The genre of the work can be described as a detective in a closed room.
about the author
Priestley was born in Bradford in 1894. His father was a provincial teacher. The writer was in the army during the First World War, after its completion he entered Cambridge.
He wrote novels, the most famous of which is Good Comrades. He wrote over 40 plays and became one of the most popular English playwrights.
He died in 1984 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Plot
At the reception of Robert Kaplen, co-owner of the publishing house, interesting details of his brother's suicide, which happened a year ago, are revealed.
The owner of the house begins an investigation, during which one by one the secrets of those present are revealed. The plot of "Dangerous Turn" is based on the revelations of the main characters. Secrets from the life of heroes, such as theft, treason, attempted rape, surface to the surface.
The details of Brother Robert's suicide are eventually revealed, but the lives of those who were present at the same time will never be the same again.
The main characters of "Dangerous Turn"
- Robert, co-owner of the English publisher. The play takes place in his house.
- Fred Kaplen, his wife.
- Gordon Whitehouse, Robert's companion, brother of Freda.
- Betty Whitehouse, his wife.
- Oluen Peel, a publishing worker.
- Charles Trevor Stanton is the new director of the publishing house.
- Maud Mockridge is a writer.
The play has 7 main characters, as well as Robert’s late brother Martin Kaplen.
Summary of Priestley's Dangerous Turn. Action one
For dinner, guests arrived at the spouses Robert and Fred Kaplen - relatives, friends, employees of the English publishing house, to which the owner himself belongs.
After the gala dinner, the men have a conversation at the table, and the women return to the living room. Prior to that, they listened to the radio play Sleeping Dog, but while they were having dinner, they skipped 5 scenes. As a result, the ladies can not understand the meaning of the name and the ending. They don’t know why the production ends with a fatal shot.
Oluen Piel believes that a sleeping dog is a symbol of truth. To the character who woke the dog, the whole truth was revealed. Unable to bear it, he fired a bullet in his forehead. Miss Mockridge mentions the case of Robert's brother, Martin Kaplan, who committed suicide a year ago.
Men enter the living room. They wonder what the play was about. The conversation is about whether it is worth telling the truth at all or is it more reasonable to hide it.
Opinions are mixed. Robert Kaplen believes that the truth should be revealed sooner or later. Stanton is confident that such a position is tantamount to a dangerous turn at high speed. The landlady offers everyone cigarettes and drinks to translate the topic of conversation.
Freda opens a beautiful casket with cigarettes. Oluen mentions that she saw her with Martin Kaplen. But Fred is sure that this is impossible, because Martin was with her a week before the suicide, that is, after Oluen and Martin met for the last time.
Oluen does not argue with the mistress. Interested in the topic, Robert insists on continuing the conversation.
It turns out that Fred handed Martin the box on the day of suicide. And after this, Robert's brother visited Oluen on some very important issue. Moreover, both women had never told anyone about this, not even the investigation.
Robert is confused. He wants to find out all the details of this story and is not going to end the conversation. Betty, referring to a headache, asks her husband to go home. Maud Mockridge and Stanton also left, so that only Oluen, Robert and Fred remain.
It turns out that Oluen went to Martin on that fateful day to find out which of the two brothers stole her ÂŁ 500 check.
It is believed that it was Martin, that's why he brought the scores to life. But Oluen is suspicious of Robert. The latter is indignant, because he always considered the girl to be his close friend.
Fred intervenes in the conversation. She tells Robert that he is blind if he does not notice that Oluen is secretly in love with him. The girl agrees that it is so. Therefore, she was silent during the last conversation with Martin. After all, he assured that Robert was guilty, as Stanton told him.
Robert is shocked, because Stanton told him the same thing, but about Martin.
Fred and Robert decide that Stanton is the thief, because apart from him and the brothers no one knew about the money.
Robert calls Stanton and asks him to return to finally understand this matter.
Action two
Stanton returns with Gordon and admits under pressure that he has committed theft. He really needed money, Stanton assures that he hoped to return it soon.
But Martin shot himself suddenly, and everyone decided that the reason was the stolen amount and the fear of exposure. Stanton decided to seize the opportunity and keep silent about the theft.
Fred and Gordon are glad Martin has nothing to do with it. They blame Stanton, but he also has something to say.
He is ready to discover everything he knows about Martin to help understand the reasons for his suicide. Stanton reveals that Fred had a love affair with Martin.
She does not deny it. Freda says she was unable to end her relationship with Martin even after her wedding with Robert. But the first brother did not feel love for her, so she stayed with the second.
Oluen admits that she dislikes Martin, his intrigues, so she has hatred for the deceased. Gordon loved Martin, for this reason he keenly accepts such a statement. A quarrel ensues between them.
Action Three
Suddenly, Oluen admits that she killed Martin. But the girl claims that she did it by accident.
Then she plunges into the memories of that evening. Oluen came to Martin when he was alone. She thought he was too cheerful and under the influence of drugs. At first he began to say unpleasant things about her. He called her a prim old maid and urged her to succumb to the desire she had for him.
When he suggested that the girl take off her dress, Olouen, outraged by this behavior, tried to leave. But he blocked her exit and took out a revolver.
The fight began, the man tried to rip off the dress with Oluen, but she grabbed his arm and unfolded a gun. Martin accidentally pulled the trigger himself and fell dead.
In the living room everyone is shocked by what they hear, but they decide to keep this story a secret so as not to substitute Olouin. Stanton had long suspected her involvement, since he had found a piece of cloth from the girl’s dress at the crime scene. But at the same time, he always respected Oluen and considered her moral and decent.
The girl continues the story of the events of that evening. She urgently needed to share this terrible news with someone. She went to Stanton, but he was with Gordon's wife, Betty. Oluen did not go in.
By this time, Betty had also appeared in the living room, and Robert wondered if it was true that she was Stanton's lover. She admits that it is, and she hates her marriage to Gordon.
She began to meet with Stanton because of a disgusting relationship with her husband. In addition, her lover gave her good expensive gifts. For this, he needed money.
Robert also makes a confession - he loves Betty. But she is sure that he simply sees in her a beautiful image, which she really is not.
Robert and Gordon tell Stanton that they no longer want to have anything to do with him. They demand his dismissal from the publisher and the return of the stolen money.
Robert drinks whiskey and says that his world collapsed due to Stanton's fault, the last illusions have evaporated, everything is now empty and meaningless.
The final
Robert leaves the room in a terribly depressed state.
Freda recalls that her husband has a gun. Oluen goes to Robert to prevent a catastrophe.
Further in the dark a shot is heard, a woman screaming and crying.
"No! It cannot happen. It will never happen!" Exclaims Oluen.
Finale "Dangerous Turn" Priestley sends us to the beginning.
The light slowly turns on again. On the stage are all four women. They talk about the play Sleeping Dog and its ending. Soon, men leave the dining room, and again the same conversation begins as at the beginning of the play.
Again they try to figure out the meaning of the name “Sleeping Dog”, argue about the truth and lies, and Fred takes a box of cigarettes. Oluen recognizes her, but then the conversation at ease turns in a different direction.
Gordon scrolls through the radio waves in search of dance music; Olouen and Robert dance a foxtrot called "It could have been otherwise."
Everyone has a lot of fun, joy and smiles on their faces, music plays louder.
The curtain drops.
The main idea of ​​the play
When analyzing The Dangerous Turn, Priestley first of all draws attention to the concept of truth and lies set forth in the play.
One of the heroes claims that telling the truth is tantamount to a dangerous turn at high speed. And subsequent events, where all the truth is revealed, really lead to tragic consequences.
But the idea of ​​the play is not at all that the truth must be hidden. A heroine named Oluen expresses thoughts that are important for understanding the play. The truth would not be dangerous if people were initially prepared to be sincere, revealing their flaws and shortcomings.
Taken out of the general context, the truth may sound awful, but it does not take into account the circumstances of a person’s life and what is in his soul. Such a half-truth, however disgusting it may sound, will never help to understand a person.
The complexity of the question lies in the fact that a person often cannot understand himself, does not know how to be sincere with himself.
Another idea that John Boynton Priestley put into this and his other plays is the general interdependence of people. Their good and evil deeds give rise to a chain of events, and it is impossible to guess how they will end.
Soviet film adaptation
The 1972 film Dangerous Turn, based on Priestley’s play, was directed by Vladimir Basov. He himself played one of the main roles in this tape. Also in the film starred Yuri Yakovlev, Valentina Titova, Rufina Nifontova.
The picture consists of three series and lasts 199 minutes.
The fate of the work
"Dangerous turn" Priestley walked on the stages of many theaters around the world. But the author himself did not really like his first creation. He believed that the dramatic technique shown in the work is too polished and impeccable.
And although the characters are outlined brightly and believably, the author and some directors found the characters too flat.
The play "Dangerous Turn" by Priestley is now popular among the public. It is often staged in amateur and professional theaters. Also came out several adaptations in different countries. In Russia, the 1972 film Dangerous Turn is still highly regarded by critics and viewers.