Samuel Beckett News

It seems an easy acting assignment; sit at a table in the dark, wait for the lights to come up full, gather your thoughts, eat a banana or two, explore the limits of your playing area, bring out a few properties from the wings, including an old tape recorder, and then sit, listen, react and comment on what you hear on the tape until, finally, the lights fade to black.

Gate Theatre Dublin's production of "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett, performed by John Hurt and directed by Michael Colgan, opened at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre last night, October 10, and runs through November 4, 2012. Check out photos of Hurt, Colgan, Gary Oldman, Alexandra Edenborough, Anwen Rees-Myers, Charlayne Woodard and more on opening night!

Jermyn Street Theatre has announced the full cast for one of the most eagerly awaited theatre events of the year. Joining Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon in Trevor Nunn's production of All That Fall, a radio play by Samuel Beckett, will be Catherine Cusack, Oliver Barry-Brook, Ruairi Conaghan, Ian Conningham, Aidan Dunlop, Frank Grimes, James Hayes and Gerard Horan. Get a first look at Gambon and Atkins in the photos below!

In March 2012, German director-composer Heiner Goebbels was awarded the prestigious International Ibsen Award for his "genuinely groundbreaking" work. Previous winners include directors Peter Brook and Ariane Mnouchkine. This November, Lincoln Center's White Light Festival presents the celebrated director's staged concert in three tableaus, I went to the house but did not enter, set to texts by T.S. Eliot (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock), Samuel Beckett (Worstward Ho), Maurice Blanchot (The Madness of the Day), and Franz Kafka ("Excursion into the Mountains"), that unfold as meditations on aging, mortality and the vicissitudes of modern life.

The French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), New York's premiere French cultural center, is thrilled to welcome back Belgian actor and master of laughter and physical comedy Jos Houben who presents his acclaimed The Art of Laughter, winner of the Total Theatre Award at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival, on Saturday, October 27 at FIAF's Florence Gould Hall.

"Krapp's Last Tape," Samuel Beckett's searing meditation on the choices made in a lifetime, directed by the Gate Theatre Dublin's Director, Michael Colgan, opens at the Center Theatre Group/ Kirk Doulgas Theatre tonight, October 10, 2012, at 8 p.m. The Gate Theatre Dublin's production has one preview on October 9 at 8 p.m.; performances continue through November 4.

Jermyn Street Theatre-the smallest theatre in the heart of the West End-presents another major production for this autumn. Three giants of the British stage come together as Trevor Nunn directs Eileen Atkins and Michael Gambon in All That Fall, a radio play by Samuel Beckett. The work, which has never been seen in London before, continues and extends this small and intimate theatre's burgeoning reputation for attracting the very best talent in British theatre in order to rediscover and stage lesser-known works by major writers.

Janice Findley Productions conjures up the mesmerizing world of Caryl Churchill's The Skriker in a signature theatrical event of the Halloween season, October 19 through November 11 at the Erickson Theatre (1524 Harvard Ave., Seattle). Led by director Janice Findley, choreographer Pat Graney, and lead actor Mary Ewald, The Skriker features a superb company of Seattle artists and performers in a work that is equal parts stunning theatre, evocative dance, and jaw-dropping visual art.

"Krapp's Last Tape," Samuel Beckett's searing meditation on the choices made in a lifetime, directed by the Gate Theatre Dublin's Director, Michael Colgan, opens at the Center Theatre Group/ Kirk Doulgas Theatre October 10, 2012, at 8 p.m. The Gate Theatre Dublin's production has one preview on October 9 at 8 p.m.; performances continue through November 4.

Step into a New World at New Hampshire Theatre Project with Samuel Beckett'sWaiting for Godot! NHTP's season opener had its world premiere in 1953 in a tiny Paris theater and is now considered a classic of twentieth century dramatic literature. As a true classic, the play is still controversial and subject to numerous intellectual interpretations yet Beckett remains one of the most accessible contemporary playwrights. Beckett's humor is often bittersweet and his heroes are clowns along the same lines as Chaplin and Keaton.

The Theatrical Management Association (TMA) has today (Thursday 27 September 2012) announced the nominations for its Theatre Awards UK 2012 with the full list of nominations now online at www.tmauk.org

David Eden Productions previously announced details of a major US tour of the American premiere engagement of the Theatre de la Ville-Paris production of Rhinoceros, by Eugene Ionesco, directed by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, continuing in Berkeley at Cal Performances on September 27, 28, and 29 (matinee), and in Ann Arbor at University Musical Society (UMS) on October 11, 12, and 13.

The third season of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival continues in November with "The Spirit of the Body," a work by dancer/choreographer Malavika Sarukkai showcasing her exquisite interpretations of South India's classical dance, Bharatanatyam. Accompanied by four musicians from Madras, India, the performances are presented in the intimate setting of the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

David Eden Productions has announced initial details of a major US tour, presenting today, September 21 and September 22, 2012 the American premiere engagement of the Theatre de la Ville-Paris production of Rhinoceros, by Eugene Ionesco, directed by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, in Los Angeles at Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP UCLA), with subsequent presentations to follow in Berkeley at Cal Performances on September 27, 28, and 29 (matinee), and in Ann Arbor at University Musical Society (UMS) on October 11, 12, and 13.

Mark Giordano is 40! And single. And he wishes he lived during the era of the three martini lunch when it was good to be bad. But, he didn't. Former flames, Reality TV, Che' Gueverra, suburban dads, soccer games, an astute nephew and Christmas aren't safe from the musings of this mad man. The 50-minute solo comedy show, MAD MAN, is served chilled with a retro twist of lemon and, an acerbic shot of funny.

SOUNDING BECKETT - a singular evening of theater and music that pairs three plays by Samuel Beckett from his 'ghost period' with new works by contemporary composers written expressly in response to those plays - will be presented tonight, September 14-23 at the Classic Stage Company (136 E. 13 St.) in Manhattan.