Review: ENDGAME, Starring Douglas Hodge, Theatre Royal Bath

Douglas Hodge commendably leads a star-studded cast in Lindsay Posner's new adaptation of Endgame at Theatre Royal Bath's intimate Ustinov Studio.

Perfectly balanced casting – a compelling Hodge is joined by Gavin and Stacey's Matthew Horne, and first-rate veterans Clive Francis and Selina Cadell ­– meets a perfectly balanced rendering of one of Samuel Beckett's best regarded works. Posner artfully coalesces the minimalist and bleak with a dark comic energy in the Irish playwright's post-apocalyptic realm.

Endgame – Beckett's absurdist attempt to make sense of the chaos following World War Two – was first performed in French at the Royal Court in 1957. He translated his work into English and many leading lights have appeared in the play over the years, including Michael Gambon, David Thewlis, Mark Rylance, Stephen Rea, Alan Cumming, Jane Horrocks and Daniel Radcliffe.

Hodge brilliantly inhabits the role of Hamm, a blind despot who remains rooted in an armchair in the middle of a murky greenish-brown room. He orders Horne's Cockney servant, Clov, to carry out mundane tasks, like bringing Hamm his dog and painkillers. A repetitive refrain of "there's no more" indicates how dire everything is for the characters.

Hamm's parents Nagg (Clive Francis) and Nell (Selina Cadell) live in dustbins. Nagg has no legs, and Nell, in a scene-stealing performance from Cadell, incongruously relates her memory of enjoying a beautiful day on Lake Como.

Set and costume designer Jon Bausor provides a set with wonky walls that add to an already disorientated world. Dusty, faded red velvet jackets, a bowler hat, and a Miss Haversham-esque pink turban and silk ensemble hint at waning music hall performers who may have seen better times. Bausor's designs tie in beautifully with Beckett's meta references to story-telling ("it's story time") and the theatre ("I'm warming up for my soliloquy").

There's terrific comic timing from Hodge and admirable physical movement from Horne, who has to clamber up and down ladders with a limping gait. Francis and Cadell do a lot with virtually no movement. The moment when they try to reach each other for a kiss is very poignant.

Beckett was an avid chess player, thus the title, which means the final stage of a game when few pieces remain. Hodge is the unqualified king, unable to move without Clov's help. Horne's Clov is the obedient knight, who makes Hamm's moves for him.

But when is it the end for these two opposing characters? When is it the end for life, and when is it the end for a play? We go full circle from the play's opening line ­– "It's finished", to Hamm before the final curtain: "The end is in the beginning, and yet you go on." As we face an indeterminate end in such uncertain times, this powerful but vulnerable production couldn't be more relevant today.

Endgame runs at Theatre Royal Bath until October 4.