Barefoot In The Park

Barefoot in the Park takes place on a single set: Corie and Paul Bratter’s top-floor apartment located on Manhattan’s east side. Act One opens onto the apartment on the day the couple moves in. It is empty, as furniture has not yet been delivered, and paint cans and a drop cloth show it is freshly painted. In this state, the apartment symbolizes a blank slate—the couple’s new beginning. Stage directions indicate it is February, the final full month of winter and a time of stasis just before rebirth in the spring.

In the second act, which takes place four days later, the apartment is “almost completely furnished”(37), as the stage directions explain. The furniture is described as “tasteful” and “comfortable,” with “various periods, styles, and prices” represented, but nothing “ultra-modern” or “clinical,” and all “selected with loving care” (37). Corie has created a home for the young couple, one that Paul will feel comfortable in despite its limitations, such as itbeing on the fifth floor and not having a bathtub. The furniture enables Paul to work at home, and Corie has learned how to operate the radiator, enabling heat to warm the apartment. Corie’s careful attention to Paul’s decor needs indicates her desire to accommodate his lifestyle.