The evening started with the comparatively brief (25
minutes) Rough for Theatre II. It is an extraordinary piece with a man standing motionless
on a window ledge while two bureaucrats (Alan Cummings and Daniel Radcliffe)
process his paperwork – testimonials etc that bear on his worth. It is bleak,
so bleak, but funny and staged with precision.
The main item was Endgame with Cummings playing the always
seated Hamm and Radcliffe the always standing Clow. Also with us are Hamm’s
parents Nagg and Nell, housed in a pair of wheelie bins. The staging was
precise and Hamm spat his words out as poor Clow ran around obeying his wishes.
His was a life of routine at the beck and call of his master. Nagg and Nell
added a completely surreal element to what was already an unusual situation.
I enjoy Beckett’s words for their own sake, no matter what
he is getting at and so it was with this evening. There are so many lines that
seem to capture something about our human existence. If only I could remember
them.
I didn’t feel this was an outstanding rendition of the play
but cannot quite put my finger on the reason. It just did not electrify me nor,
I felt, the rest of the capacity audience. Each of the actors was great and the
production was clever but somehow it did not quite come together with a real bang.
Nevertheless, I’m glad I went.
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