Krapp, a 60 year old man, is surrounded by darkness in his room. Krapp sets up an old reel to reel tape recorder under the light above his desk in readiness for a listening session. He looks through a ledger of recordings he has made of himself over the years in a manner of a personal diary or confession, and chooses one to listen to. He presses play and the room is filled with the voice of a much younger Krapp at the peak of his life. The older man relives the experiences of his past and the decision and the circumstances that have led to his current state . Finally he turns the tape off, fetches a microphone and feeds a blank spool, and begins to record his last thoughts. When he has finished, he puts one of the earlier spools back onto the deck and listens once more to his younger self, to a moment of happiness, and as he stares ahead, the tape runs to an end and the darkness engulfs him.