ABSTRACT
Party Time begins with two men, Terry and Gavin, caught in mid conversation at a party. Around them people talk, music plays, a waiter holds a tray of drinks. Two doors lead from the room. The younger man, Terry, is describing the rich luxury of a private members’ club, its class, the tennis and swimming available, the complimentary drinks, the hot towels. The older, Gavin, is half-listening, and the mention of hot towels leads him into reflection about the rituals of the barbershops of his youth. The younger man seems to be out to impress the older with the glories of this club. The older man seems more detached, partially anchored by the conversation, but more interested in his own reflections than in the substance of what is being said to him. As Terry continues to describe the club's exclusive luxury, his connoisseur's tone is momentarily undermined by a jarring drop into a colloquial obscenity, thrown in as if it reinforces his argument.
