The first thing I noticed when I read Catastrophe was that it seemed to be dealing with race. There is a repetition of black and white and ash. The first time I read this I thought it was describing a director critiquing a person of color. But after looking into this script more I think its message is meant to be much broader than race. And then once I watched the film version I was sure it had to do with something other than race. The script version is similar to the film version. One difference is that in the film you get to see the old man’s last expression of disgust. This brings home the idea that the human body has been objectified. You really get the sense that this man on stage is being treated like a prop.