Harold Pinter’s “The Birthday Party”: Actwise Summary/ Detailed Summary of the Play/ Thorough Summary/ Actwise Synopsis/ Plotline of the Play/ Outline of the Play/ Story Outline

 

Act I

The opening scene of Harold Pinter’s play named The Birthday Party is discerned in the scruffy room of a household in a tiny town, by the sea, with a door. When we come to see the curtain rising, we get to know Petey who enters with a newspaper and then takes a seat near the table. We can hear Meg’s voice through the hatch of the kitchen. Now let us get introduced to the characters of the play: Petey, Meg, Stanley, Lulu, Goldberg and McCann. All through the play, random references to food are provided, even though, sometimes they are not understood properly. Here we come to find Meg serving breakfast to Petey, her husband. Again, on the contrary, we come to notice the lack of proper understanding in this regard. For instance, when Stanley is asked about the fried bread, he thinks and tells that it is ‘succulent’. Strangely enough, Meg misinterprets that the word ‘succulent’ does have a sexual implication. Hence, she begins to tease Stan regarding the same. Thus, the drama begins its journey with Meg and Petey. Both of them are engaged in having a word with each other. Thereafter, we find a reference to the birth of a baby girl by Petey. Time and again, we see that Meg continuously desires attention. She keeps on frolicking on the word ‘succulent’. Thus, the talk goes on and on from this topic to that vehemently. There we find some talk on piano-playing, on Stanley’s background, on Meg’s departure for shopping, on her instructions given to Lulu in a whispering tone, and so on and so forth. Thereafter, we see that in spite of Meg’s enough familiarity with Stanley, she, thinking it to be his birthday, organises a present that is nothing other than a child’s toy drum. It is conspicuous to note that the drum was brought from Lulu. Again, we meet Goldberg and McCann. While the former takes a trip down his memory lane, the latter feels tensed and anxious, wondering whether it is the right place at all. Although Meg tries to present her gift to the birthday boy, Stanley denies that it is his birthday.

Act II

In the evening, Stanley and McCann indicate that Meg is crazy, while they were having a little talk with each other. In the meantime, Stanley requests both Goldberg and McCann to depart from the place. Most conspicuously, Meg comes in clad in an evening dress. Moreover, she was playing drum. In course of all these, the birthday boy is made to feel helpless like a little child. It may be observed that Act I concluded with Stanley’s beating the drum savagely, whereas Act II ends up with Stanley’s chuckles and the fact that he is out of control.

Act III

It was the next morning when Meg mistakenly thought Petey to be Stanley. To utter surprise, she gets to know that the drum is broken; it is no more the same. However, the birthday party was too much for Stanley; it was heard that he became a victim of ‘nervous breakdown’. Broadly speaking, Stanley behaved madly, according to Goldberg and McCann. In the meantime, Lulu alleges that Goldberg used her for a night to “quench” his “ugly thirst”. Thereafter, Stanley gets welcomed by McCann. Anyway, he is clad conservatively; he is clean shaven; his glasses are broken. Again, Petey yelled out with a broken heart. It was revealed that Stanley should take some rest. However, regardless of anything, Meg returns to the enjoyment of the party.