Arthur

Arthur begins as a struggling young art student, embodying a poetic and visionary neurosis similar to the playwright, sharing his first name. Enthralled by the creative potential of pinball machines—a popular American import in post-World War II Paris—Arthur is always contemplating ways to reinvent the games, enhancing their novelty without altering their essence. This passion introduces him to a tycoon involved in the production and leasing of these machines. Over time, Arthur becomes ensnared by the time-consuming devices, using them to escape the vacuity of modern life. Initially, he earns from his innovative input to "The Organization," but his fall from grace comes when his inspiration dwindles. Despite his love for Annette, his impracticality bars him from securing a stable income and becoming a viable partner. By the final act, Arthur is in his seventies, working as an underpaid elementary school teacher who spends his free time engaging in Ping-Pong matches with his friend Victor.

Victor

Victor is depicted as a young man equally captivated by pinball machines, yet he is more pragmatic than Arthur. Pursuing a medical career, Victor eventually gains his medical license and establishes a successful practice. Despite this success, he maintains a connection with Arthur and the allure of pinball games, discovering a way to attract patients by frequenting arcades. In later life, Victor is a wealthy retired physician, with his sole passion being the competitive Ping-Pong games he plays with Arthur. His life concludes tragically when he suffers a heart attack during one of their intense matches. Victor’s life underscores the existential theme of the play, highlighting that material success does not equate to fulfillment or meaning.

Annette

Annette is characterized as a slender and attractive woman, often exhibiting coldness and irritability. She resents the competition posed by machines for male attention, expressing her disdain for pinball machines and similar dehumanizing modern devices with the lament, “They’re all the same in the long run, and you soon get used to them.” Her career path is varied: she starts as an usherette in a movie theater, briefly sells for the Organization, then works as a shoe store clerk, and later becomes a manicurist. After her untimely death in a traffic accident, it is unveiled that she was involved in affairs with Arthur, Victor, and Sutter, deceiving each regarding the others. Annette symbolizes the shrewd modern woman who leverages relationships for advancement but ultimately falls victim to the harsh, competitive socioeconomic landscape.

Mrs. Duranty

Mrs. Duranty is portrayed as a small, discontented woman in her sixties. She epitomizes the relentless middle-class entrepreneur who toils yet never progresses financially. Her constant complaints about her physical ailments mirror her stagnant socioeconomic status. At the play's commencement, she operates a bar, ironically named "The Good Hope," where Arthur and Victor gather to play her pinball machine. Her ventures shift to owning a public bathhouse and later a modest dancing school. Mrs. Duranty's horizontal career path exemplifies the play's critique of capitalism as a system that squanders both human potential and resources.

Sutter

Sutter, a middle-aged, self-important representative of the Organization, is fervently dedicated to the promotion of pinball machines, earning a substantial income until age and fierce commercial competition exhaust him. Ultimately, he dreams of emigrating to the United States to achieve business success, symbolizing the notion that individuals are both victims and perpetuators of the prevailing political and social systems.

The Old Man

Known at times as Constantine, the Old Man is an assertive, old-school capitalist at the helm of the Organization. Despite his ambitions for greater financial achievements, he is eventually outmaneuvered by better-financed competitors, ending his days as a senile, embittered failure on his deathbed.

Roger

Roger serves as the Old Man’s secretary, embodying a sycophantic corporate "yes-man." Lacking in intellect and creativity, he is entirely reliant on his employer’s favor. During the Organization's prosperous times, Roger enjoys a lavish lifestyle, but he is unable to adjust when the company falters, becoming another casualty of a merciless system.