Time of year is not that important in this play, other than the fact that the events between the prologue and the epilogue take place on one saturday night i.e begin and end in one evening - probably over a 3-4 hour period. The most important detail about time is that it is absolutely this present moment in time.
I reckon the prologue between uncle Jez & occurs in the late summer, August, before Guy returns to Oxford for his 2nd year i.e. Uncle Jez says " Besides, you'll only be a 2nd year' (note the 'you'll' as in you will...)
Guy says he's had ".. 3 dinners so far". We could take this to mean that he was recruited by a sponsor at the start of his first year at Oxford and had a dinner during each of the three terms of his first year.
The only thing that goes against this is: a) Guy says he's going on holiday to Spain with Lauren and her family - the assumption is that would be in the summer months, and if this conversation with Uncle Jez is in August, then when exactly is Guy going on holiday with Lauren and her family?? Maybe he's meeting JEz in July....This is a small point.
Throughout the play all references to 'a year' seem to refer to an academic year ie. sept through late May. Guy tells Jez that James - who we know is a 'finalist' i.e. final year student -'...wants to give it another year (as president) and then he'll stand down'. The assumption is that James served as president in his 3rd year and will be also serving as president in his 4th year when he takes his Msc.
Uncles Jez also says that Guy should wait a year to put himself 'forward..for president'. The suggestion is that the Riot Club President serves for one academic year...'...unless they are contested.'
But the main peice of evidence for the time of year comes from Toby in Scene One:
"..I'm a 3rd year...2 more dinners after tonight....Gone." This suggests that THIS Riot Club dinner is taking place in autumn term (October), and that Toby has another two dinners - one in winter/spring (February?) and then another in spring/summer (May?)- and then he graduates and is out in the real world.
So as far as facts goes, it looks to me like this Riot Club dinner takes place in the autumn term in a dining club in Oxford, 2010.
However this information will have little or no impact on the audience. What do they see? A group of young men in a private dining room. There is no indication of time of year and their clothes (tailcoats) would be the same if they met in Winter or summer. There is no indication from the menu of anything 'seasonal' i.e asparagus in May etc, although Gazpacho tends to be eaten in warm weather. There is also absolutely no reference to any current events which might date the play. Even the reference to Iceland does not mention anything about the banking crisis (Iceland was bankrupted by this in 2008).
Laura Wade went to great effort to make this play relatively timeless.
TIME: 2011
MONTH
Prologue is August.
Scene 1-4 takes place in October.
Epilogue is December.
Thank you. I understand that this information will probably have zilch impact on the audience, but i think it is imperative for the actors to know. It is my intention to gain as much detail as possible for a richer outcome. I don't know about anyone else, but it is paramount for me (as one of the actors) to know the exact setting and time of the play irrespective of its importance in the play.
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