Driblette and the Living Text

The Crying of Lot 49

Driblette’s performance makes interpretation an act of personal creation, while his disappearance leaves Oedipa without the witness she most wants to question.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Director’s Choice A Director’s Choice from "The Crying of Lot 49". The Added Assassins A deliberate staging Driblette places black-clad assassins onstage although the printed play does not show them.

A Director’s Choice from "The Crying of Lot 49". The Added Assassins A deliberate staging Driblette places black-clad assassins onstage although the printed play does not show them.

The Added Assassins A deliberate staging Driblette places black-clad assassins onstage although the printed play does not show them. His production also gives special force to the disputed Trystero ending. An authorial performance The staging makes the director an active interpreter rather than a neutral transmitter. Oedipa begins to suspect that his choices may connect the play to something beyond the printed words.

The Shower Argument The Shower Argument from "The Crying of Lot 49". The Play in the Actor Words versus embodiment Driblette tells Oedipa that the play exists in his mind and performance, not simply in a script.

The Shower Argument from "The Crying of Lot 49". The Play in the Actor Words versus embodiment Driblette tells Oedipa that the play exists in his mind and performance, not simply in a script.

The Play in the Actor Words versus embodiment Driblette tells Oedipa that the play exists in his mind and performance, not simply in a script. He describes himself as a projector giving flesh to a world. A refusal of certainty His account denies Oedipa a stable text she can treat as proof. Even if she identifies every source, she may still fail to reach the truth of what the performance meant to him.

The Disputed Ending The Disputed Ending from "The Crying of Lot 49". A Line with No Secure Source Versions diverge Oedipa discovers that the line naming Trystero is absent from the hardcover edition Bortz edited.

The Disputed Ending from "The Crying of Lot 49". A Line with No Secure Source Versions diverge Oedipa discovers that the line naming Trystero is absent from the hardcover edition Bortz edited.

A Line with No Secure Source Versions diverge Oedipa discovers that the line naming Trystero is absent from the hardcover edition Bortz edited. Driblette used it onstage, but the source and significance remain uncertain. A personal possibility Oedipa wonders whether something in Driblette’s life made him choose that version. The hypothesis makes the performance intimate, but she has no way to test it with him.

The Walk into the Pacific The Walk into the Pacific from "The Crying of Lot 49". Driblette Disappears A death announced Oedipa learns that Driblette walked into the Pacific wearing his Gennaro costume.

The Walk into the Pacific from "The Crying of Lot 49". Driblette Disappears A death announced Oedipa learns that Driblette walked into the Pacific wearing his Gennaro costume.

Driblette Disappears A death announced Oedipa learns that Driblette walked into the Pacific wearing his Gennaro costume. His death comes soon after the production’s set is struck. Inquiry without a witness She had tried to call him that morning, but cannot ask what prompted his final performance choices. The person who might have explained the play is gone, leaving Oedipa to interpret silence.

The Unreturned Memory The Unreturned Memory from "The Crying of Lot 49". A Lost Interpreter A request to the dead Oedipa wonders whether Driblette’s last memories could tell her if Tristero had anything to do with his death.

The Unreturned Memory from "The Crying of Lot 49". A Lost Interpreter A request to the dead Oedipa wonders whether Driblette’s last memories could tell her if Tristero had anything to do with his death.

A Lost Interpreter A request to the dead Oedipa wonders whether Driblette’s last memories could tell her if Tristero had anything to do with his death. She imagines a final message as the only evidence that might settle the question. Communication fails No answer comes from the grave, and she recognizes the possibility that either she cannot communicate or he no longer exists as a source. His absence becomes one more boundary in her search.

At the Tank performance

After the first performance

After Oedipa compares the editions

Two nights before Oedipa visits Bortz

At Driblette’s burial