Summary
The play Closer opens in a hospital waiting room in England. It is
January, and Alice is going through a briefcase. Dan enters with some drinks
and finds her putting his things back in the briefcase. As they talk and flirt
with each other, it is revealed that Alice was hit by a cab while crossing the
street after making eyes at Dan. Dan tells her that he works for a dead-end job
writing obituaries and that he dreams of being a writer, but has not found his
voice. Larry, a doctor, passes by and Dan asks him for help. Dan is about to
brush them off, but notices that Alice is attractive and stops to look over,
asking about a scar on her leg. After he leaves, Alice convinces Dan to call
into work sick and spend the day with her.
The second scene takes place a year and a half later in Anna’s photography
studio. She is taking Dan’s picture for the jacket of his first book, which is
all about Alice. As Anna takes his picture, Dan comes onto her and they kiss.
Shortly thereafter, Alice arrives, meets Anna and goes to the bathroom. Dan
begs Anna to see him again, but she refuses. Alice returns from the bathroom
and asks Anna to take her picture. She makes Dan leave, and Anna begins taking
her picture. While Anna is taking photographs and making small talk, Alice
reveals that she overheard Dan’s proposition. Anna tries to apologize and the
scene ends with Anna taking a picture of Alice’s tearful face.
The third scene of the play takes place in cyberspace the following January.
Dan approaches Larry in a chat room and pretends to be Anna. He engages Larry
in cybersex and then promises to meet him the following day at the
aquarium.
Scene Four takes place at the aquarium the next day. Larry strikes up a
conversation with Anna and starts referencing their adult conversation on the
internet the previous day. Anna realizes what is happening and tells him that
it was Dan. A frustrated Larry asks about Anna’s relationship with Dan. When
Anna attempts to take his picture, he initially refuses, but relents when she
sadly tells him that it is her birthday.
The fifth scene jumps ahead five months to a gallery presenting Anna’s
photography exhibit. Alice and Dan are standing in front of the tear-streaked
photography of Alice. Alice worries that Dan will leave her, but he reassures
and leaves to say congratulations to Anna. Larry enters and recognizes that
Alice is the girl in the photograph. Alice condemns the photo and the
photographer as being empty, and Larry reveals he is now Anna’s boyfriend.
Alice recognizes Larry as the doctor from the hospital when he asks about a
scar on her leg, and the two flirt with each other. Elsewhere, Dan finds Anna
and begs him to come away with her to her father’s funeral. He says he is in
love with her and believes she is too. When Larry shows up, Dan abruptly
leaves.
Scene Six takes place one year later in Anna’s flat with Larry, and Dan’s flat with Alice. Dan comes home and confesses his year-long relationship with Anna. She packs her bag and leaves in a rage. Larry, who has recently married Anna, returns from New York, admits that he had a one-night stand in New York. Anna in turn reveals her relationship with Dan. Larry viciously interrogates her about the specifics of her sex life with Dan and how he compares to him. The first act ends with Larry...
(This entire section contains 1094 words.)
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rejecting Anna.
Act Two (the seventh scene) takes place in a strip club three months later.
Alice, in a wig and full stripper regalia, is entertaining Larry in a private
room. Larry starts asking her personal questions, and becomes frustrated by her
vague, elusive answers. He asks her what her name is and she says she is Jane
Jones. He blows up at her, saying he knows she is Alice and she is in pain
about Dan leaving her. Alice refuses to talk about Dan and also turns down
Larry’s offer to sleep with him. When he exhausts his line of questioning, he
orders her to strip for him.
A month passes, and Scene Eight finds Anna waiting in a restaurant for Dan. As
Dan asks her about her day, the scene flashes back to earlier when Anna met
with Larry about their divorce. Over the course of their argument, Larry
insists that he will only sign the divorce papers if Anna sleeps with him. As
the two scenes overlap, Anna agrees to Larry and Dan discovers she has just
returned from her rendezvous with Larry.
In Scene Nine, another month has passed and Alice brings Larry to a museum. She
quickly exits, and he runs into Anna. He reveals to Anna that he is having a
fling with Alice, who shortly returns. When Larry leaves, Anna gives Alice the
negatives from her photo session when they first met. Alice tells Anna that
Larry is still hung up on her, but Anna accuses Alice of trying to get Dan
back. Alice leaves with the negatives telling Anna to “do the right
thing.”
Scene Ten begins a month later as a distraught Dan barges into Larry’s surgery
office. Dan apologizes for his affair with Anna, and begs to have her back.
Larry refuses and threatens to kill him if he comes near her again. The scene
ends with Larry telling Dan about his sexual relationship with Alice.
The eleventh scene moves forward one month to a hotel room. Alice and Dan are
preparing for an early-morning flight to New York the next day. Initially, the
two are very cuddly and affectionate; however, as the scene progresses, Dan
becomes more persistent in asking Alice personal questions about herself. She
dodges his inquiries, but confesses to sleeping with Larry. They fight and
Alice says that she no longer loves him anymore because he tested her. As the
argument escalates, Dan hits Alice.
In the last scene, six months have passed and Dan, Larry and Anna gather in a
memorial park. Larry and Anna discuss Alice’s death, and Larry spots the name
on the memorial that Alice took as her own. Dan reveals that her real name is
Jane Jones and she was hit by a car and killed. The play ends with the three
surviving characters going their separate ways, none of them happy.