- Treats
"Treats" is a 1975 play by
Christopher Hampton about alove triangle .Plot summary
The play is set in 1974,
London , in a single room in Ann's flat. There are three characters: Ann, her former boyfriend Dave, and her lover Patrick.Ann and Patrick are contentedly sitting at home one night, listening to music and talking, when Dave breaks in. His violent temper is clear from the beginning: He punches Patrick on the nose, then refuses to leave, even as Ann threatens to call the police. It soon turns out that Ann used Dave's work trip to
Cyprus to break up with him as she had long been planning to do. Now a colleague from work—her new boyfriend, Patrick—moved in with her. Dave refuses to accept the situation and demands an explanation, bullying Ann, and being overly friendly with Patrick. Ann seems determined not to listen to him, particularly when the two men bond against her. Dave tells her she would be bored out of her mind by Patrick and asks her to marry him. She refuses. Dave, however, is crafty and clever enough to succeed: he wins her back and moves back in at the end, succeeding in making both of them miserable.Background
Hampton's translation of
Ibsen 's "A Doll's House " was a huge success. He noted, however, that in the 1970s there were probably as many women trapped in unsatisfactory relationships with abusive men as in the 1870s, and that Ibsen's play was no longer provocative enough. "Treats" was an instant box office success at the Royal Court and in the West End.In 2007 it was revived in London at the
Garrick Theatre with a cast including "Doctor Who"'sBillie Piper and her real-life husbandLaurence Fox , known for his roles in the horror film The Hole and in BBC's Egypt series, andMy Family starKris Marshall .Read on: Love triangles
*
Noel Coward : "Design for Living "
*Joyce Carol Oates : "Black"
*George Bernard Shaw : "Candida"
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