In the Theatre

This poem explores 'A true incident' which occured 'in 1938, in Cardiff'. Dr Wilfred Abse, a doctor and Dannie Abse's brother, assisted a leading surgeon in locating a brain tumour on a patient who was under 'local anaesthetic', and was therefore 'fully awake throughout the operation'. The poem appears to consider the place of the soul within one's body, and the division between soul and brain (if there is one).
     Wilfred's account of the operation drifts into Dannie's poem throughout, blurring the line between truth and untruth, as well as conciousness and unconciousness. This haziness could echo the unknown element of a person's 'soul' and where it lies, as well as if it is seperate, or connected to, the brain. The poem obtains a mysterious quality; the reader has to make a judgment on whether the patient cries out as a reaction against the surgeon prodding his brain, or whether he speaks because of it.
     Free will is shown as being abandoned in the first stanza; the patient is described as 'blink[ing] again and again / because of the fingers of Lambert Rogers', making him appear as a puppet-like 'dummy'. This manipulation is shown again in the fourth stanza when the nameless patient speaks with a 'ventriloquist voice', portraying how these haunting words appear to be controlled by what is happening to his brain. This could also suggest a division between soul and brain, echoing the idea that each think/feel different things. It could be argued that this division is also reflected through the separation of 'Sister saying' and 'sister thinking'. Abse's continual reference to the 'soul' implies something different than neural processes.
     Roger's fingers are described as moving 'rash as blind man's, inside his [the patient's] soft brain.' The word 'rash' makes Roger's actions appear frantic and unsafe, and the description of the patient's 'soft brain' is grotesque, whilst obtaining a matter-of-fact tone which makes the incident even more sinister. Lambert Roger's becomes even more 'desperate' in the second stanza as the growth begins 'ticking its own wild time'. This suggests that time is running out, and the procedure is being carried out under extremely stressful and frantic circumstances, adding to the tone of 'horror'. As the operation continues 'more brain [becomes] mashed because of the probe's braille path'. This is Abse's second reference to lack of eyesight, and it hurls the reader into suspense as the procedure appears increasingly dangerous and unprecise, whilst the prospect of success/recovery decreases simultaneously.
     The third stanza shows the patient crying out: 'You sod, / leave my soul alone, leave my soul alone,'. This appears to be a reaction to the 'cracked record in the brain', although the reader is prompted to question where the soul is placed and if the brain connects to it. The word 'cracked' could further suggests divisions and separation between brain and soul/self. This grim exclamation 'petrifies' the onlookers and Rogers draws out 'the probe'.  The patient's voice is describes as 'arctic' and 'odd', making him sound almost inhuman and creating a horrificly sinister image of the scene.
     The final stanza of 'In the Theatre' shows the patient's words 'blur and slow' as he begins to die. The word 'slow' suggests the slowing down of the patient's organs and breathing. This hazy final scene is portrayed through the structuring of his last utterance: '...leave ... my ... soul ... alone ...' This last bit of speech 'cease[s] at last when something other died'; it could be argued that through this phrase, Abse is implying the soul lives on even when the body dies/organs stop functioning. When the patient dies, 'silence matched the silence under snow' - this phrase holds connotations of graves and death.