The Adding Machine, by
Elmer Rice, is regarded by many as the first play to bring German style
expressionism to the
American theater. The story follows the emotional struggle of the characters rather than the major events of the plot (in fact most of the turning point events of the play occur between the scenes) Until he wrote
The Adding Machine Rice was a master of the
melodrama, but The Adding Machine’s distinctively
modern feel and disturbing message set it apart from his other plays.
The
play is composed of “
scenes in progress.” They do not resolve, but, continue to spin after they’ve ended. The play is like opening a series of doors to discover some event, as you watch the event it gains momentum but then before any major change occurs (or completes occurring) the door closes again and you move on. The play has a typical
dramatic structure that is modified so that many of the major
plot points occur between the
acts.
The
major dramatic question is “Will
Zero escape his wife, his job, and the miserable world he lives in or will he continue to live in some kind of hell?” The answer is “He will continue to live in some kind of hell.”
The play is a
tragedy which allows the scenes that occur between the “real” action to remain riveting in fact more interesting than the events they surround. In the court scene where Zero speaks at length to a silent unresponsive jury we enjoy a kind of suspense (perhaps a remnant of Rice’s old
melodramatic style) “At any moment they might say something they might understand him!” we hope. But, next thing we know he’s in hell. Rice seemed to have no interest in showing any other witness or cross examinations or even the point where they decided his sentence. We here the verdict “Guilty” but Zero goes on with his defense as if he still might have a chance. This piece of action is left
unresolved until the next scene.
The Adding machine is clearly
character driven. It is told with a a strong point of view allowing us to see events through the eyes of Zero.
The language of the play sounds highly
naturalistic while still conveying the story in an
expressionistic way. Two of the seven scene consists of single
monologues that run at the pace of the
stream of consciousness of the characters. In the second scene Daisy and Zero speak their thoughts aloud between the lines in the normal conversation. Rice has turned subtext into text making palpable what is normally only implied.
Other plays by Elmer Rice:
1923
The Adding Machine, 1923
Street scene an opera with lyrics by
Langston Hughes, 1929
Cock Robin, with
Philip Barry, 1929
The subway, 1931
The left bank, 1931
Counsellor-at-law, 1933
We, the people, 1934 ...]Judgment day] , 1939
American landscape, 1940
Two on an island, 1941 ...
Flight to the west, 1944 ...
A new life, 1946
Dream girl, 1952
The grand tour