@article{ART003330871},
author={Heebon Park-Finch and Chris Megson},
title={Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You},
journal={Journal of Modern English Drama},
issn={1226-3397},
year={2026},
volume={39},
number={1},
pages={193-217}
TY - JOUR
AU - Heebon Park-Finch
AU - Chris Megson
TI - Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You
JO - Journal of Modern English Drama
PY - 2026
VL - 39
IS - 1
PB - 한국현대영미드라마학회
SP - 193
EP - 217
SN - 1226-3397
AB - This paper discusses James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You (1962), arguing that the play exemplifies the postwar Theatre of the Absurd – a genre that dramatized alienation, purposelessness, and the lingering trauma of two World Wars – while also demonstrating its continued resonance in a digital era shaped by post-truth anxieties. Though Saunders was widely recognized during his career for his work for theatre, radio, and television, his oeuvre has since been marginalized within critical discourse. Nevertheless, his plays remain deeply invested in the ontological pursuit of meaning within an absurdist framework, affirming their lasting relevance. Today, marked by climate emergency, war, and the erosion of genuine human connections, collective unease regarding the absurdity and instability of modern civilization has only intensified. A reassessment of Next Time I’ll Sing to You and its exploration of personal identity through the figure of a suburban hermit is therefore particularly timely. Structured in two acts, the play features playwright Rudge and three actors (Meff, Dust, and Lizzie) who interrogate the Hermit performer from different perspectives, collectively attempting to uncover the rationale for his voluntary withdrawal into solitude. Saunders’s deployment of metadramatic and recursive devices, together with a paradoxical determinism, underscores the insufficiency of logic and philosophy in confronting the enigma of human existence. In the end, grief emerges as a mystical mode of expression, articulating the profound spiritual void at the heart of modern life.
KW - James Saunders;Next Time I’ll Sing to You;Theatre of the Absurd;meaning;alienation;grief
DO -
UR -
ER -
Heebon Park-Finch and Chris Megson. (2026). Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You. Journal of Modern English Drama, 39(1), 193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch and Chris Megson. 2026, "Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You", Journal of Modern English Drama, vol.39, no.1 pp.193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch, Chris Megson "Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You" Journal of Modern English Drama 39.1 pp.193-217 (2026) : 193.
Heebon Park-Finch, Chris Megson. Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You. 2026; 39(1), 193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch and Chris Megson. "Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You" Journal of Modern English Drama 39, no.1 (2026) : 193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch; Chris Megson. Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You. Journal of Modern English Drama, 39(1), 193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch; Chris Megson. Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You. Journal of Modern English Drama. 2026; 39(1) 193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch, Chris Megson. Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You. 2026; 39(1), 193-217.
Heebon Park-Finch and Chris Megson. "Alienation, Grief, and the Absurd Search for Meaning: Revisiting James Saunders’s Next Time I’ll Sing to You" Journal of Modern English Drama 39, no.1 (2026) : 193-217.
