ABSTRACT
Playing dominoes in the English village of Wanet represents a way for Arthur and June and others to be in the pub for an evening with a schedule, as it were, which punctuates whatever else (chatting, drinking) they may be doing. Dominoes, indeed, provides something of a foundation for sociality of a particular sort: for relations of amity and intimacy between those who are not affines or kin, neighbours or even local acquaintances. Playing dominoes may be seen to give on to relations of friendship which negate and transcend the latter certain categories. The distinct frame of interaction which dominoes ushers in is perhaps most clearly flagged in the way that married couples are firmly separated and not allowed to act as domino team mates. Within the domino frame, relations are begun afresh; certainly there is no great continuation of 'external' relations such as the maintenance of a marriage partnership would represent.
