quintessentially Beckettian sentence, "After so long a lapse that as
　　　　  if never been," R pauses, and then exclaims, "Yes" (286). As has
　　　　  been noted, this word is almost the only qualitative match to the
　　　　  title word, "impromptu," as it seems the only spontaneous event in
　　　　  R's speech. It is the "sudden appearance of the unanticipated"(5)
　　　　  which throws the movement of the play off to a distant point.
　　　　  Moreover, even the static nature of the play itself is disrupted:
　　　　  ... [T]he visual image constitutes a[n apparently] stable point of
　　　　  reference throughout the performance, but its essentially static
　　　　  nature is
　　　　  undermined, firstly by the gestures, which introduce a dynamic
　　　　  element
　　　　  into the stage image, and which may radically affect, even challenge
　　　　  our
　　　　  interpretation of it, and also by the continual modification or
　　　　  [iterative]
　　　　  re-view of the scenic image in light of the text.(6)
　　　　  Image is effectively destabilized by action, and both are
　　　　  destabilized by the repeated words and images generated by the
　　　　  narrative read. Like the protagonist of the narrative who walks out
　　　　  to the Isle of Swans over and over seeking "some measure of relief"
　　　　  (285), the text replays words and "events," constantly affecting and
　　　　  altering the "reality" we see before us. In Ohio Impromptu, as with
　　　　  other of Beckett's late plays, there is no straightforward way to
　　　　  assign all our sensory information into any single set of
　　　　  complementary referents: Ohio Impromptu is multi-vocal (or, in
　　　　  Mikhail Bakhtin's word, polyvalent); its elements are in continuous
　　　　  flux, combining harmoniously and dissonantly as they rub against one
　　　　  another.
　　　　  The nature and unique structure of the play is crucial to the way in
　　　　  which Ohio Impromptu creates and destabilizes meaning; this is
　　　　  certainly a play on the edges of drama, of size, and of
　　　　  comprehension, where Beckett disrupts dramatic convention through
　　　　  the nearly static, minimalized actions on stage. Although we as
　　　　  audience feel the multiplicity and ambiguity of who and what is
　　　　  happening on stage and are thrust into a quandary about how it is
　　　　  related to what we hear, the import of the singular structure and
　　　　  content of this play may not be apparent immediately. To begin
　　　　  delving into the effect of the play as a whole -- both for
　　　　  characters and audience -- let us work from the end of the play,