​

 

“A third common myth was that Beckett was a total miserabilist and a pessimist, in his life as in his work. It is one of the most prevalent of misconceptions and is based, I believe, on a lack of knowledge of the complexity of the man, as well as on a profound misunderstanding of his work.”

 

James Knowlson, Images of Beckett

 

“But it is Sam Beckett’s exaltation of the spirit that has taught me the one basic truth: that in spite of everything or whatever, one goes on…that in the theater as in all of art the only thing that counts is the work itself, the need to go on with that work at the highest possible level – not to be distracted or disturbed by success or failure, by praise or blame, by surface or show, analysis or abstraction, self-criticism or criticism of others. This is especially when that work is of Beckett’s order of magnitude, possessed of Beckett’s sublimity, his degree of compassion, his eloquent understanding of the potentialities both of the stage and of human frailty.”

 

Alan Schneider, On Beckett

 

 

Favorite Line

 

“I say,  Am I not perhaps a little unhinged already? (Hopefully.) Just a little? (Pause.) I doubt it.” – Play, W2

 

Across these four plays, there are endless examples of the ways in which Beckett packs layers of meaning and emotion in the most concise language. This, line is, of course, only a single instance in which he presses nuance and depth. However, in my first read of Play, this stopped my eyes. I immediately responded to W2’s question of her own existing levels of sanity, her further qualification and minimization of that sanity, and finally, her conclusive assessment. It seems to me to be very human, especially when I consider my own identity as a woman in the world with a tendency to overanalyze the validity of the truth of my real and lived emotional experiences. There are a seemingly endless number of ways to interpret these lines and decipher what emotional or psychological processes this character is experiencing. Is her role in this entanglement causing her to lose her grip on reality? Or tighten it?

 

“time she stopped

let down the blind and stopped

time she went down

down the steep stair

time she went right down

was her own other

own other living soul.”

 – Rockaby

 

From my perspective, Rockaby was written by Beckett the poet, rather than Beckett the playwright – thought there is always a compelling to argument that both roles wrote all works. The haunting play of Rockaby reads like a poem, and I found myself murmuring the words out loud to hear how they might ring in the air when I read it for the first time. Beckett’s use of repetition in his work in Rockaby, as in all of his work, is remarkable. The evolution of the line “another like herself another creature like herself” to “another living soul one other living soul” to “time she went right down was her own other own other living soul” is subtle yet piercing. The phrase “living soul” extracted on its own is so evocative and visceral, and ultimately helped to tie me to an understanding of the beauty of this play. The final iteration, “was her own other own other living soul,” crackles with simultaneous heartbreak and hope that the only other living soul this woman had was her own.

 

 

Favorite Moment

 

The “Sequel” moment of Footfalls

 

In my understanding of the concept of a transition from a film medium to a theatrical medium over the course of these four short plays, I was drawn most to the moment in Footfalls in which that transition will shift to reveal a fully live performance. The stage directions read almost like the choreography to a ballet:

​

(M continues pacing. Five seconds. Fade out on strip. All in darkness, Steps cease. Pause. Chime a little fainter still. Pause for echoes. Fade up to a little less still on strip. Rest in darkness. M discovered facing front at Right. Pause.) Sequel.

 

Even without the context of the concept for this production, this moment is pivotal and bold. It would be easy to glaze over this moment and these stage directions, but within them there is tension, stillness, and theatrical magic. The practitioner in me is aware that the technical elements of this moment (and entire piece) will take significant coordination to set precisely, but I so look forward to seeing this moment realized. These tiny details are what really make Beckett’s work come alive and are a testament to his investment in understanding stagecraft deeply. I cannot wait to discover how this moment is achieved both visually and aurally on stage.

 

 

Most Important Line and Moment

 

“All this, when will all this have been…just play?” (M, 313) – Play

 

The way I think of this line in the context of the four plays is like a comb which pulls through each of them. How many intricate threads of connotation can be woven through all four plays with this single line alone? This line in and of itself is decadent in its richness of wordplay. There is deep existentialism compressed in such a simple phrase, implied futility, cross-references to both games played by unfaithful lovers and the resounding metatheatricality and double meaning of the word “play.” It even manages to capture the act of pressing play as in the act of starting a recording. It’s an intense amount to capture in a single line and moment, but it is critical. I will be curious to see if and how this line may land in performance.

 

“I can feel the rings.” – (Flo, 355) Come and Go

 

The moment which immediately precedes this line (“The three pairs of clasped hands rest on the three laps. Silence.) is one of the rare instances in which human contact is written into the stage directions of Beckett’s work. In many interpretations of this play, this work is described as cynical or cryptic, none of which I believe are accurate to a full understanding of its meaning. It is more than a moment of contact – it is a moment of connection between three women after a brief yet poignant series of exchanges of bad news, grief, nostalgia, and love. If the aim is to take the audience on a journey from isolation to connection, this moment must land. It will require not only precision, but also careful and tender attention to every detail. I have found that while it is likely easier to decipher the darker elements of Beckett’s work, the challenges presented in uncovering moments of hope allow for a much more rewarding, affirmative, and complex understanding of his work.

 

 

Positives

 

1. An opportunity to showcase roles for women in Beckett’s canon

​

In these four plays, only one character is indicated as a male-identifying role. It is thrilling to consider that there will be several opportunities for women and non-binary individuals to have an opportunity to sink their teeth into the work of Samuel Beckett, especially in a world which overproduces Waiting for Godot, a production that has historically explicitly excluded anyone other than men in those roles. I am eager to see how the casting process unfolds and to see the talents of my fellow student collaborators displayed.

​

2. The timing of our community’s very real and recent journey from isolation to connection

​

I feel confident that, in the wake of the last two years, any audience member who attends this production will not struggle to grasp the broad thematic concept, simply because it has been collectively experienced. The pandemic which forced all of us to retreat into the ice of isolation has only recently begin to tentatively thaw. Limited amounts of the normalcy and joy of togetherness have seeped back into our everyday lives, albeit slowly, with the vaccine distribution. However, as recent weeks have proven, the threat of separation-as-safety measure still lingers in our atmosphere. Often it is difficult to convey a concept without forcing it onto the audience, but it is my suspicion and hope that will not be the case in the instance of this production.

 

3. The bite-sized length of the plays

Beckett’s shorter plays, while dense in meaning, are rather time efficient. In a world which praises the “ninety minutes, no intermission” play, I think these four plays are each digestible due to their length, and audiences will enjoy the variety of presentation as well. It’s an atypical structure for an evening at the theatre, but I think one that will be a fun experience for audiences. From a standpoint of practicality, I imagine that for many audience members it will be the first (or one of the first) nights at the theatre in a significant amount of time. The endurance of a person’s attention span might not be quite ready for a three-hour long epic drama, but it may be perfectly primed for a variety of four short plays with an intermission between them. Moreover, it allows for a livable rehearsal and production schedule

 

4. The variety of mediums

While the nature of last year’s pandemic measures forced our department to adapt to the digital and film medium, the benefit is that we will head into this process with less of a learning curve earned through that experience. I loved how Bakkhai Variations and Slaphappy turned out in our last season, and I am eager to see how filming can enhance our presentation of both Play and Footfalls. My hope is that, in addition to the variety of four different plays, the two different mediums will leave the audience with a lot to take away from the evening. I think that filming Play is a brilliant way to capture the essence of the material and will be visually compelling and enticing.

 

 

Challenges

 

1. Health and Safety Concerns

I wish I could avoid pointing out the pandemic as a challenge to this production, but I cannot ignore that anxious concerns related to it have hovered over my mind and will likely linger over the coming months. I admit that I thought we would, as a community, be reaching closer to a point of progress than where we currently are. With nothing but the most absolute concern and consideration for the health and lives of our community, I admit that I am nevertheless a little frustrated at the possibility that the pandemic might interfere or stall this production. However, I think that our department and community has become very adept at handling the pandemic as an additional cast member. My hope is that the overall situation will continue to improve and move towards the safest environment possible for all involved. If it does not, I plan to remember the collaborators of Slaphappy and try to emulate the adaptability and optimism they maintained throughout that process.

 

2. Assumptions about Beckett/The Beckett Estate

I have given much thought to this over the last few months, and I know that it will continue to be a topic to which I will pay careful attention. The Beckett Estate has a rightfully earned notoriety for being brutally and unnecessarily exclusive in the name of preserving the late playwright’s work as it was written and intended to be performed. Entire productions have been shut down if a choice that differed from what the text had indicated was made. Even adjustments that would not necessarily detract in artistic value or aesthetic have been halted. It is disappointing that the Beckett Estate continues to maintain such an iron grip on a body of work with so much possibility. There have been rare exceptions to this, such as the 2007 site-specific production of Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, Louisiana following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In general, though, the Estate artistically restricts more than it enables, and I worry that the work of the artist will not age well under such rules. Furthermore, I worry that the playwright himself after whom the estate is named will be lumped into the categorization of exclusionary and narrow-minded.

​

While Beckett’s instructions for his estate were specific as ever, they also do not indicate that sexism or any other kind of intolerant belief system should be employed to preserve the authenticity of the work. This is not to infer that I believe his work should be spliced and dissected so that it is unrecognizable. On the contrary, I think anyone who attempts to perform Beckett and wishes to do right by the work would do well to follow his text as closely as possible.  However, I think that it is possible to be both honorary and imaginative, especially with plays that grapple with deeply universal human experiences. There are several artists who have begun to dare to perform his work in a way that is inclusive, specifically with reference to gender and non-binary identities, even in the face of the Beckett Estate. My hope is that more artists will continue to do so, because the survival of his work depends on it if the estate does not bend.

 

Finally, in my research on Beckett as a human being, I have discovered only that he was a person who seemed to live the opposite of the values sometimes charged against him by those who assume his estate is reflective of him as well. He was deeply generous with his wealth and distributed his earnings freely. He displayed empathy and compassion for those in unfortunate circumstances and kept connected to people who were incarcerated or suffering from compromised mental health. He was repulsed by racism and prejudice of any kind which was instilled in him from his early school days and reinforced by the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. He was a man of many cultures, not linked to any one homogenous community, which was (and continues to be) atypical for his demographic. I cannot speak for Beckett himself, nor would I be able to. However, it is important to separate the artist from the machinations of his estate. With that considered, is that enough to justify performing his work? It is imperative in our current moment that any theatre which opts to include the work of a deceased white male playwright, even Beckett, must recognize and understand the challenges of doing so and truly ask themselves why that work is still worth doing. It is more than, “Why This Play Now.” It is, “Why This Play Now, Still.”

 

3. Developing the muscles necessary as an actor for the Beckettian aesthetic

​

To best honor the work of Beckett, an actor must enlist different instincts and impulses that might be more natural to use on nearly any other play. Like Shakespeare, Beckett demands differently (and much more) of an actor’s voice, mind, and body. The text is significantly challenging to process and to memorize effectively, and there are no shortcuts. In researching the actors who have remained close to Beckett’s work, my observation is that while the work is rewarding, it is rigorous and can be exhausting. It would be ideal if the casting process could result in an ensemble of curious, flexible, and focused artists. There is a deep and nearly severe specificity inherent in each play for each actor. For example, in Rockaby, Beckett includes notes for the eyes of the actor, noting, “Now closed, now open in unblinking gaze. About equal proportions section 1, increasingly closed 2 and 3, closed for good halfway through 4.” (433) In Footfalls, the choreography of movement is so specific that a single misstep might throw off an entire moment. To be clear, I am excited about these challenges, and I see them as an invigorating benefit to this work rather than an intimidating detriment. My fervent hope is that the actors will as well!

 

4. The specific (and perhaps rigid) technical and design elements inherent in each play, for example:

• The lighting directions in Play – The spotlight moves from face to face at an incredible pace in the given stage directions. I imagine it will be a challenge to determine how best to emulate this on film.

• The Sequel moment in Footfalls – If this is the moment in which there is a transition from the film medium to the theatre medium, it will require collaboration and likely several discussions on how best to achieve that moment successfully.

• The rocking chair in Rockaby – The stage directions indicate that the chair is not moved by the actor, but “controlled mechanically without assistance.” (434) I have struggled to find explicit solutions of how scenic designers and technical directors have made this work in past productions, which is in and of itself a challenge.

 

In the theatrical notebooks written by Beckett for Footfalls in Berlin, it is noted that “At the very end of the play, the empty strip will be faded out first, then, after seven seconds, the vertical strip of light. In this way, the aesthetic aspect and a technical necessity will be combined.” (88, Journal of Beckett Studies) This phrase summarizes neatly what I suspect will be a difficult (but not impossible) aspect of this production process: to honor the direction of Beckett’s text and aesthetic while also practically implementing the technical design elements. From a design and technical theatre perspective, how closely will we aim to match what the text directs? How closely can we aim to match what the text directs? And finally, how much do we want to?

 

​

Questions

 

1. How do we prepare the audience for some of the archaic/outdated language and idioms? In Play alone, there are phrases scattered throughout the text such as “settle my hash,” “doxy,” and “dugs.” In Footfalls, “how feat she wheels,” might sound like “how feet she wheels,” which is nonsensical. I do not believe that these phrases will be so unfamiliar as to alienate an audience, but how can we convey the meaning clearly?

2. There are lots of characters mentioned in these plays who are minimally explained at best, such as Old Mrs Winter in Footfalls, Erskine in Play, and Miss Wade in Come and Go. Who are these characters? How important is it to know who they are? What is necessary about them for the actor to communicate to the audience?

3. How do we unlock the inherent poetic qualities of this text, especially in Footfalls and Rockaby? What will be most useful and helpful to the actors in the process of developing their roles?

4. How will we handle the health and safety aspects of a live production? If actors perform unmasked, will we require proof of vaccination to attend? Will audiences be allowed to sit next to one another? How quickly will we be able to adjust if the conditions of the pandemic suddenly improve or suddenly get worse?

 

Crack/Thread

 

My understanding of Beckett and his work is rooted in my own experience of the bitter pain of death, the persistent joy that life may offer, the sharp and strange nature of grief, and the in-between spaces that connect all these elements. I need not detail my own specifics – all humans who exist share these lived experiences. However, when I think of how I relate to these plays and to the work of Samuel Beckett, I am compelled to consider the deeply personal lens of loss through which I view. I must also consider, by contrast, the deeply personal lens of light through which I view.

​

It is not without difficulty that I attempt to explain the nature of the last two years from my perspective and how they might be related to Beckett, or “Beckettian” in their nature. Graduate school, an alleged once-in-a-lifetime experience for myself and my peers, has been brought to heel by Zoom and the challenging landscape of forming connection in a digital environment. Perhaps I have become increasingly suspicious of that term, “Beckettian,” and its usefulness. What I do know, that has been helpful to finding a way into these plays, is the sense of story and the humanity therein. I have understood the role of caretaker for a parent, like May in Footfalls. I know that I have been in a hell-like cycle of strange love, like Play. I have felt completely out of and in control all at once, as in Rockaby. I have the good fortune to know the connective tissue and comfort of old friendship as in Come and Go. There is always the case that I am miscounting for error, but I don’t believe that any of these experiences should seem so unavailable to people as to not relate to them.

​

In many ways, I believe that Beckett’s work exposes us raw. The fears and agonies we smother so to survive and exist peacefully with one another are brought into glaringly bright light, and it can be uncomfortable to experience those in real life, let alone in the theatre. However, bleakness and terror are not the whole of Beckett. Indeed, far from it. I think those who see only that miss out on an opportunity to experience a much richer “more.” There is joy, affirmation, and connection inside and alongside the perils of mortality. My experience of grief has been much like that. It is all encompassing heartache and piercing pain, realized by sudden highs of gratitude and love. It is loss, but it is also connection.

 

​

Audio and Visual Moments 

Audio

 

Play

• The hiccups from M

• The rapid tempo of speech throughout is not so much a moment, but a marking.

• The “peal of wild low laughter” from W2, which repeats twice towards the very end

 

Footfalls

• The sound of pacing footsteps, described as a “clearly audible rhythmic tread.”

• The sound of a “faint single chime” and the direction to “pause as echoes die” in Footfalls, which repeats four times.

• The “low and slow” voices

• The internal rhythms and rhyming in M’s monologue, ie: “But many also were the nights when she paced without pause, up and down, up and down, before vanishing the way she came. (Pause.) No sound.” And “Faint, though by no means invisible, in a certain light. (Pause) Given the right light. (Pause.) Grey rather than white, a pale shade of grey.”

• The sound of feet shuffling and a dress dragging

 

Rockaby

• The recorded voice of the woman in the chair

• The echo of “time she stopped,” “living soul,” “time she stopped,” and “rock her off”

 

Come and Go

• The line, “Oh!” first said by Ru, and then Flo.

 

Visual

 

Play

• The spotlight movement, rapidly switching from face to face

 

Footfalls

• May’s “dishevelled grey hair”

• The lighting directive, “dim, strongest at floor level, less on body, least on head.”

  • In the Berlin production, Beckett indicated that “the walking up and down is the central image.”

Rockaby

• The spotlight on the face of the actor

• The rocking chair

  • In the text, the notes for the chair are as follows: “Pale wood highly polished to gleam when rocking. Footrest. Vertical back. Rounded inward curving arms to suggest embrace.” (433)

• The slow fade out at the end to “rock her off”

 

Come and Go

• Flo, Vi and Ru sitting “very erect, facing front, hands clasped in laps.”

• The final image of the three actors [after a moment they join hands as follows: Vi’s right hand with Ru’s right hand. Vi’s left hand with Flo’s left hand, Flo’s right hand with Ru’s left hand, Vi’s arms being above Ru’s left arm and Flo’s right arm. The three pairs of clasped hands rest on the three laps. Silence.”

• The women whispering in one another’s ears

 

Concretes

 

• Three identical grey urns (or in our production, three Zoom squares) in Play

• The worndown landing strip in Footfalls

• The rocking chair in Rockaby

• The rings worn by Flo, Ru, and Vi in Come and Go

 

 

Echoes, Repetitions, Returnings

 

 

Across these four plays, there are a seemingly countless number of echoes, repetitions, and returnings. These plays reach to one another, to other works written by Beckett, and even to other plays. The below list is a starting point, upon which I hope to continue to expand and elaborate.

 

Play

• The sound of hiccups from M1

• The word “stricken”

• The following lines and words are all repeated throughout the play at least once. I have bolded the ones I find to be especially intriguing:

“I simply could no longer"

“When first this change”

“Mercy”

“How the mind works still”

“Poor creature”

“Am I not perhaps a little unhinged already?”

“So I took her in my arms and swore I could not live without her.”

“Hellish half-light”

“Such fantasies”

“Weary”

“Get off me”

“Mere eye”

 

Footfalls

• The repetition of May’s footsteps

• The response of “Yes, but it is too soon” to May’s caretaking questions is repeated

• The word “again” is repeated several times between May and her mother which indicates that this behavior is inherently a repetition.

  • Would you like me to inject you again?

  • Would you like me to change your position again?

  • Pray with you? For you? Again.

  • Forgive me again.

• The call and response between mother and daughter asking about age – “so much?” and “so little?”

• There is a web of repetition in the mother’s monologue in Footfalls “Til one night, while still little more than a child, she called her mother and said, Mother, this is not enough. The mother: Not enough? May – the child’s given name – May: Not enough. The mother: What do you mean, May, not enough, what can you possibly mean, May, not enough?” (401)

• The phrase “snatch a little sleep”

• Nightfall/Footfalls/Fall Asleep/Deep Sleep is reminiscent of the following line from Endgame: “Gradually I cooled down, sufficiently at least to ask him how long he had taken on the way. Three whole days. Good. In what condition had he left the child. Deep in sleep. (Forcibly.) But deep in what sleep, deep in what sleep already?” – Endgame

• The sound of a chime, repeated four times throughout the piece.

• The use of the term “feat” is also used in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale in Act IV, Scene 4 when Polixenes’ observes of Perdita, “She dances featly.”

• The letter shuffle of May and Amy

 

 

Rockaby

• Rockaby is thick with countless rich repetitions and variations on bites of phrases, especially “time she stopped” (repeated fourteen times), “close of a long day” (repeated thirteen times) and “another living soul” (repeated six times.)

• “Time she stopped,” “another living soul,” and “close of a long day,” are also echoed inbetween each movement

• The repetition of the rocking chair moving back and forth

 

Come and Go

• There are three characters in Play, and three characters in Come and Go

• The repetition of inquiry from each of the women to the other on their individual states

 

​

Summary 

 

In a curated selection of four short plays by Samuel Beckett, a man commits adultery. A mother and daughter age. A woman rocks off. Three old friends gather to sit and gossip. Recognizable slices of life from the human experience are artfully examined through the lens of one of the greatest playwrights of the twentieth century, whose work continues to both puzzle and thrill audience members and aficionados alike today. The work of Beckett cracked theatre open to a world of difference. Similarly, there is a line to be drawn between life prior to March of 2020 and what has come after. Much like the characters in these four plays, the world has come to understand the stark difference between isolation and connection, between despair and hope. In these four plays, a journey towards light and community is taken, one that looks much like our collective own.

 

 

​