by Kirby Lindsay, posted 8 August 2014
From August 13th – 24th, at West of Lenin (WoL,) fans of playwright Samuel Beckett will be treated to a showcase of four of his short plays in ‘Life = Play’, produced by A.J. Epstein. This production will be the first in a festival of Beckett plays being staged over the coming year by 15 Seattle theater companies, organized by George Mount of the Seattle Shakespeare Company. Epstein takes delight in the thought of Beckett being interpreted by such a wide variety of talents, venues and audiences. Yet, his own production at WoL is still a personal project. “I want people to experience a playful writer at the top of his craft,” he explained.
“I’ve always wanted to do Beckett’s shorts,” Epstein acknowledged. Since college, Epstein has been fascinated by the plays of this well-known wordsmith and whimsical, yet exacting, playwright. “Last year, we cleaned out the theater – leaving only 20 seats – for Rockabye,” Epstein reported. The sold out, short production spurred the producer/director to go larger, and fulfill his vision, with this full-scale evening of Beckett’s works.
‘Going To An Extreme’
“The big ones are so loaded with conceptual philosophical politics,” Epstein said of Beckett’s longer plays, such as ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘Endgame’, “everyone has their expectations.”
“With the short pieces, it’s really Beckett experimenting with theatrical craft. He’s playing, and he’s innovating in a way he doesn’t in his larger works,” Epstein explained. “He’s going to an extreme in the shorter works.”
For ‘Life = Play’, Epstein selected four rarely produced plays that challenge audiences, and the cast and crew, while illuminating the incredible gifts of Beckett as a writer. The most familiar of these is ‘Act Without Words, Part I’, a complete 20-minute play, directed by Carol Roscoe and performed by Ray Tagavilla. Epstein brings ‘Rockabye’ back to the stage – a one-woman play performed by Susanna Burney about a character reflecting on the end of her life. For this production, Epstein also directed ‘Come And Go,’ featuring Kate Sumpter, Kate Kraay, and Rachel Delmar in a four-minute, three-page play. For all his playfulness with words and absurdist images, Beckett demands strict adherence to his stage directions and, according to Epstein and Delmar, ‘Come And Go’ has one page of dialogue but two pages of directions.
The pièce de résistance of ‘Life = Play’ must be ‘La Dernière Bande’, also known as ‘Krapp’s Last Take’. Beckett wrote this play in both French and English. While normally performed here in English, ‘La Derniere…’ “is a different play,” in French, according to Epstein. For this production, directed and performed by M. Burke Walker, will use supertitles. Like Beckett, Walker – a revered director known for his respectful, truthful creations – speaks French and provided the supertitles. As for the play, “it’s about someone old and cranky, reflecting back on their life,” Epstein explained, “It’s a familiar theme with Beckett.”
‘A Capable Space’
Epstein described Beckett as being, “a man who was purposefully enigmatic; deliberately enigmatic.” He doesn’t expect ‘Life = Play’ to attract a wide audience, but he still takes pride in offering this special, and unusual, production to those Beckett aficionados and/or Francophiles that do find their way to WoL.
“Every now and then, having a small space, you can do something rarified,” Epstein explained. For in addition to being producer and director for ‘Life = Play’, Epstein also owns West of Lenin (WoL). (When asked for his title in regards to the black box theater known as a venue for unusual, rarified and often courageous productions, Epstein smiled and answered with great irony, ‘Impresario.’)
The seating for ‘Life = Play’ will be limited, but the works will not. Beckett’s directions for ‘Act Without Words’ call for a fly-system, so Epstein, director Roscoe and set designer Kathryn Cornell worked out how to make this possible by looking at why Beckett needed it. “The size of the space, the nature of the space, lends itself to these small productions,” Epstein acknowledged, as it makes it possible to individually tailor the space specific to each production, down to repainting in between shows.
“I want it to be a capable space,” Epstein explained, for all kinds of smaller productions – particularly those that meet his high professional standards. WoL can make available, to those who desire it, high-quality, professional equipment and resources like those used to such credible results as the production of ‘Master Harold…And The Boys’ directed by Walker at WoL last year.
Don’t Be Absurd, Purchase Tickets Now
“I’m sure I’ll want to do more,” Epstein said of Beckett’s many other works. ‘Life = Play’ may not be the last chance we’ll have to see the absurdist playwright on the boards at WoL, “there are more Beckett shorts I’ll want to tackle,” he admitted, “I will want to do ‘…Godot’ before I die.”
Still, “it depends on the reception from fellow companies,” Epstein answered when asked about when he might bring more Beckett to Fremont, “it’s a lot to sink your teeth in to.” The best advice for Beckett fans, theater groupies and those simply interested in seeing the playfulness and philosophy of Beckett is to attend ‘Life = Play’ now. True foolishness would be to wait for yet another opportunity.
Purchase tickets to ‘Life = Play’ through Brown Paper Tickets, now. Also, visit the Beckett Festival website to find out about the other fifteen theater companies planning to bring Beckett, and more absurdity, to Seattle.
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©2014 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.