Beckett's play takes on power

Courtesy of University Productions Josh Parrott and Jason Linder star in "Endgame."

Samuel Beckett is known to most students through high-school English classes, where his famous "Waiting for Godot," often delights, as well as confuses them. Now, students have the opportunity to see Beckett performed in person as the University Department of Theatre and Drama opens its 1998-99 season with Samuel Beckett's play, "Endgame."

"Endgame" is truly one of those plays which one must see and experience, rather than just read. The title of the play refers to the final phase in the game of Chess and befits the work, which deals with endings. The setting of this one-act piece is a wrecked room, strewn with the remnants of industrial decay. The four characters include Hamm, a blind and paralyzed man, both bitter and demanding, and his son-turned-slave, Clov, who is at his father's beck and call. The remaining two characters, Hamm's parents, are stationed in garbage cans for the endurance of the play and personify the fear and loneliness of old age.

In the style of Beckett's most famous play, "Waiting for Godot," "Endgame" contains little action but is packed with pregnant meaning.

As the director of the play, Philip Kerr points out, "Endgame" is a play "in which the essential ingredients are condensed down like maple syrup. Every action, every word takes on a great power."

There is nothing superfluous in "Endgame," yet there is much ambiguity. Nonetheless, the collective elements of the play all work to illuminate the human condition in the 20th Century. Kerr states that the play highlights "the futility of human efforts, which are often without meaning and bring loneliness, yet are still carried out, over and over."

In the tradition of Beckett, the essence of the play is presented with biting precision and a large dose of dark humor. "It is Beckett's immense talent as a word smith that lets him give us a play with dead on honesty, pathos and laughter," Kerr said.

With great emphasis and enthusiasm, Kerr insists that this play offers a unique event for everyone who views it. While one's interpretation of the play will be colored by their own personal experiences, all who attend "Endgame" will digest both a comic and thought-provoking work of art.

The performance Friday will be followed by a post-performance discussion Prof. Enoch Brater. Brater is one of the world's foremost authorities on Samuel Beckett.

10-07-98