The sea as a black comedy

#The_Sea_as_a_Black_Comedy

Bond is much conscious about showing the victims of the sectionalized society. He introduces satirical comedy in The Sea. He explains, " My play is pointedly about sane and insanity, and the town represents the entrapment".
It would not be justified to title The Sea as comedy. Although the events support come comic scenes in the course of the play, yet it would be difficult to attribute the play as comedy. Jane Howell rightly points out ,"it comes from Evens in the storm.But it seems so improbable. I don’t think as audience can laugh at it". It has also been labeled as Black Comedy.
The rehearsal scene is also one of the comic highlights of the play. It is a wicked parody of the worst kind of village amateur theatricals. The scene is comically structured by the conventional comic principle of constant interruptions. Mrs.Rafi, the formidable, tries her best to inspire her cast, but is frustrated at the congruity of situation. Mafanway refuses to do the 'dog role' in the play. Jilly is driven emotional and she bursts into tears. The Vicar fails to concentrate on delivering his lines and requests Mrs.Rafi to improvise some comic episode in the scene. The ultimate rehearsal scene is brought to end by sound of the guns and the sudden arrival of Willy. Rose appears in the play directed by Mrs.Rafi and performs her role of Eurydice saying, "I am queen of this dark place. My heart burns with a new cold fire". Such a comment is ironic as the dialogue of the play refers to her own reaction to Colin's death. All the gestures by the performers in the rehearsal scene display the ludicrous hollowness of their lives. Their mechanical behavior of condolence is more than what they actually feel for Colin. Moreover, the feelings of grieves are much inclined towards the wretched condition of Rose as compared to the death of Colin.
Bond installs exaggerated comic style to expose the ridiculousness of the values of the people along with their unnaturalness of behavior. The comic atmosphere is maintained when Mrs.Rafi leads Thompson by ear while Hollarcut watches the scene from a safe position behind the counter, ducking his head down. The arrival and the departure of the people at draper's shop is nothing else but to produce the effect of aimlessness in their lives.
In the seventh scene, the funeral service on the cliff-top disintegrates into utter confusion and chaos with the sudden arrival of Hatch. Colin's ashes,already dropped, scattered and swept by Mrs.Tilehouse with her handkerchief. Mrs.Rafi throws handfuls of them in Hatch's face. Hollarcut gets beaten blue with the music sheet on the piano. The overall impact of the scene is no doubt funny, but is emphasizes the desperate effort of Mrs.Rafi to control the much organized event. The funeral service is brought to an end by the sounds of the guns by the battery at the other side of the sea.  Hatch's lunatic behavior on seeing his victim alive is another comic sequence. He utters, " still alive, still alive" in a frenzied way. His assumption that he has saved the people from foolishness produces comic effects. He says," no one can help you now" is equally foolish as he is the only person who is a constant threat for the people of the forebeach.
Mrs.Rafi's speech in the end is critical which claims sympathy for the her. She is afraid of getting old. She is exposed and the mask she wears is dropped by her confession of being rude. She talks of her life having been wasted. Bond comments, " I think what she says about herself is ultimately unacceptable". The Sea is a black comedy and could hardly hope for a better cast.
Mr. Bond shows some decent comic touches which are milked to the last droplet. the comedy is two-dimensional. It is more to expose the follies of the character rather than just producing laughter among the audience. It can be said that the events are to give comic relief to the audience in the general drama of pain where the society is exposed.