Point of View

The Physicists keeps its focus on the single drawing room of the villa of Les Cerisiers. The play opens with a second murder at the villa having been already committed in the room. The action revolves around the events taking place in the drawing room. This creates a sense of claustrophobia that ties in neatly with the idea of the sanatorium as a sort of prison.

The fact that the play opens "in media res" with the police investigation and the murder scene creates a sense of mystery in the audience. The audience/reader creates a series of questions: who has been murdered? By whom? Why? The audience is aligned with the Inspector as he questions the Matron and has a dialogue with Newton. As the Inspector uncovers more about the villa, so in turn does the audience.

This premise is also important in that it...