Endgame
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Intro to Beckett

Diving into Beckett’s work can be intimidating. His output was vast and quite unlike anything that came before it or has come after it. At the same time, putting in the effort to get to know him pays rich rewards. Here is my best advice on how to get started.

See the Plays

Beckett’s plays are a great way to get to know his work. In many ways they are a distillation of the ideas and themes of his novels. The best plays to start with are Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape, and Play.

If there is not a production playing nearby, I encourage you to check out the Beckett on Film Series. This is an invaluable collection of all Beckett’s stage works. Godot, Play, Ohio Impromptu, Come and Go, and What Where are all brilliantly acted and filmed. They can be purchased at:

http://www.amazon.com/Beckett-Film-DVD-Sean-Foley/dp/B00006FXQN/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1204139411&sr=8-1

Read the Trilogy

I grew up thinking that Beckett’s most significant contribution to the literary canon was Waiting for Godot. Well, Godot is just the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg itself is Beckett’s Trilogy: Molloy, Mallone Dies, and The Unnameable. This is truly an epic work. It is infinitely rich, intriguing and hilariously funny. My advice for the best way to start is to hear them read first in the wonderful series by narrators Seán Barrett and Dermot Crowley:

http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/enSearch/searchResults.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&N=0&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&D=Samuel+Beckett&Dx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Ntk=S_Keywords&Ntt=Samuel+Beckett&x=0&y=0

It is the best “book on tape” performance I have ever heard (and I have heard a lot). Barrett and Crowley are remarkable.

Books about Beckett

There are lots of great books about Beckett. The two I would recommend most are Back to Beckett by Ruby Cohn and The Philosophy of Samuel Beckett by John Calder.

The best books about Endgame are Endgame: the Ashbin Play by Arthur N. Athanason and Twentieth Century Interpretations of Endgame edited by Bell Gale Chevigny.

Incredibly useful for all Beckett’s plays is The Student’s Guide to the Plays of Samuel Beckett by Beryl S. and John Fletcher.

For Biography, Damned to Fame by James R. Knowlson and Samuel Beckett by Deirdre Bair are good. Beckett Remembering Remembering Beckett by James and Elizabeth Knowlson is a wonderful collection of first person accounts of Beckett as well as his own memories.

Read Beckett’s Complete Works

Last year, I started with the goal to read everything Beckett ever published. I am about three quarters of the way there and it has been an amazing trip. His complete works have been publish in four handsome volumes by Grove Press:

http://www.amazon.com/Grove-Centenary-Editions-Samuel-Beckett/dp/0802118313/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204142078&sr=1-5

The boxed set is out of print and expensive but the individual volumes are easily found and relatively cheap.

I invite you to join me in my quest! Please continue to explore the website and I hope to see you at our production of Endgame!

-Rob Melrose, Artistic Director

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