The Potting Shed

"A miracle in a family must be worse than a murder case." --James

I've had my eye on this play ever since my roommate recommended it to me in college. Which is to say, reading this play has been a long time coming.

Graham Greene's The Potting Shed is slightly similar to two plays I've recently read: Like G.K. Chesterton's Magic, it explores the difficulty and truth of the supernatural (in this case, the play concerns a Christian miracle, rather than an evil one [if that isn't an oxymoron]); like The Cocktail Party, this play features a friendly psychologist who assists the main character in his quest for sanity (while The Cocktail Party psychologist is primarily looking toward the future; The Potting Shed's psychologist primarily helps the main character explore his past in order to remember the life-changing event that he'd forgotten).

The novel explores the relationship between belief and unbelief, and the faith required to accept a miracle. Our main character cannot love until he has come to terms with the miracle. In addition, he cannot even think about having children without hope. Here is an excerpt from his conversation with his psychologist:

"JAMES: If I had a child, 1 wouldn't forbid it
fairy stories. They might develop the sense of
hope. If a pumpkin can turn into a coach, even
this dreary room, that tablecloth, those awful
ornaments, could be a palace, with limitless
corridors.

KREUZER: Did you ever want a child?

JAMES: No. I didn't want to create new
convicts for a prison. To have a child you
need hope.

KREUZER: There seems to be plenty of hope,
then, around us. Judging by the birth rate.

JAMES: There should be another word for that
simple sort of hope.

KREUZER: It's enough for most of us."

Childhood itself is an important theme throughout the play. The best character in the play is Anne, a precocious child who drives much of the action. She decides that she's a detective and helps her uncle, James, unravel his past. In addition, the miracle happened in James' childhood--he forgot it in large part due to his atheist parents' denial (they were more concerned with their pet theories than with his health).


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