Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Authors’ Note
- Samuel Beckett (1906–1989): The Last Literary Giant
- Dialogue I Messianism: Pros and Cons: Waiting for Godot (1949)
- Dialogue II The Tyranny of the Emancipated Mind: Endgame (1956)
- Dialogue III The Fiasco of Self-Creation: Krapp's Last Tape (1958)
- Dialogue IV Incorrigible Optimism: Happy Days (1961)
- Dialogue V The Comic Side of Pessimism: Rough for Theatre II (late 1950s)
- Dialogue VI Life as Purgatory: Play (1962)
- Dialogue VII Darkness and Forms of Speech: Not I (1972)
- Dialogue VIII Inventing Oneself: That Time (1974)
- Dialogue IX Life without a Father: Footfalls (1975)
- Dialogue X Creatures of the Night: …but the clouds… (1976)
- Dialogue XI The Abyss of the Unconscious: Ohio Impromptu (1981)
- Dialogue XII Catastrophe with No Tragedy: Catastrophe (1982)
Dialogue IX - Life without a Father: Footfalls (1975)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 March 2019
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Authors’ Note
- Samuel Beckett (1906–1989): The Last Literary Giant
- Dialogue I Messianism: Pros and Cons: Waiting for Godot (1949)
- Dialogue II The Tyranny of the Emancipated Mind: Endgame (1956)
- Dialogue III The Fiasco of Self-Creation: Krapp's Last Tape (1958)
- Dialogue IV Incorrigible Optimism: Happy Days (1961)
- Dialogue V The Comic Side of Pessimism: Rough for Theatre II (late 1950s)
- Dialogue VI Life as Purgatory: Play (1962)
- Dialogue VII Darkness and Forms of Speech: Not I (1972)
- Dialogue VIII Inventing Oneself: That Time (1974)
- Dialogue IX Life without a Father: Footfalls (1975)
- Dialogue X Creatures of the Night: …but the clouds… (1976)
- Dialogue XI The Abyss of the Unconscious: Ohio Impromptu (1981)
- Dialogue XII Catastrophe with No Tragedy: Catastrophe (1982)
Summary
Janusz Pyda OP: Footfalls and That Time are generally considered twin plays. Not because they are particularly similar – they're not – but because they were written one after the other and jointly premiered. Beckett wrote them in 1974– 75, for staging on his 70th birthday in May 1976 at the London Royal Court Theatre, with which he had been closely connected for years.
Two plays were planned for the birthday celebrations: a new production of Endgame with Beckett's favourite actor, Patrick Magee (for whom Krapp's Last Tape was written), as Hamm, and a performance of three one-act plays: Play, which had been staged at the Royal Court in 1964, and the two new plays, That Time and Footfalls, in which the main roles were also played by Beckett's favourite actors. The Listener in That Time was played by Patrick Magee, while May – the protagonist of Footfalls – was played by Billie Whitelaw, an actress Beckett had admired for years and who was generally known as his muse. He had worked with her on the British premiere of Not I. Endgame, Play and That Time were directed Beckett's friend Donald McWhinnie, and Footfalls by Beckett himself.
This seems a suitable moment to broach the topic of Beckett's relationships with his actors. We know that he had his favourites, actors he particularly admired, and it's said that they sometimes inspired him to write new plays. Is this true? Did Beckett – like some composers who wrote with particular musicians in mind – write some of his plays for specific actors?
Antoni Libera: It's a bit complicated. Beckett, although a master of theatre and a great innovator, was not your typical theatre personality: he was shy and reticent, spoke little and in general did not really feel at home in the easy and relaxed atmosphere that characterizes theatrical circles. His approach to the task of instructing his actors was highly pedantic, one is almost tempted to say scientific, and he took it extremely seriously. His language on these occasions was very formal, almost technical. No psychologizing and certainly no philosophizing. Actors tend not to like this approach and they were a little afraid of him. He awed them; they felt unsure of themselves.
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- Information
- Dialogues on BeckettWhatever Happened to God?, pp. 131 - 146Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2019