Krapp's Last Tape at The Cockpit

Peter Marinker, known for his extensive work on BBC Radio, his many audiobook recordings, and his long association with Samuel Beckett’s publisher John Calder, performs Krapp’s Last Tape.

At 84 and recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Marinker brings decades of experience performing Beckett’s work as he returns to one of the playwright’s most demanding solo roles - with the function of memory in relation to selfhood at the heart of the production.

In Krapp’s Last Tape, Beckett’s one-act monologue written in 1958, the audience meets a man marking his birthday alone, while listening to and reflecting on recordings he has made each year on that day. We hear a recording Krapp made at the age of 39 and within it, his reflections on tapes made in earlier years, as he makes what we are told is his last tape.

This new production will use reel-to reel recordings made by Peter the last time he played Krapp in 1983. Live in-ear prompts, where needed, will run alongside the play, highlighting the relationship between memory and remembering, cognition and re-cognition.

Following his recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the decision to return to Krapp’s Last Tape at this stage in his life has been a deeply personal one, allowing Peter to bring his lived experience to Beckett’s exploration of memory and ageing, intellect, and intuition.