Form versus Catastrophe in the Old English Christ III

We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let us suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, Boom! There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware that the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions this same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There's a bomb beneath you and it's about to explode!

Automated summary

This passage describes a suspenseful situation where a bomb is hidden underneath a table during a seemingly ordinary conversation, and the public is aware of it and longs to warn the characters.