SAMUEL BECKETT
SO WHAT'S LEFT FOR US TO SAY ABOUT Act without actors with which he settled in his adopted Samuel Beckett. the 2()th century‘s most homeland. lt’slogicalthen, that
canonised dramatist? We all know ll’aiting For Braz'l'ans brmg Bumaku to Bake“ festival director Cathie Boyd should
Godot. Endgame and Krapp‘s Last Tape. and we Now you might be an experienced commission a leading French company
know all about the existential gloominess of his Beckett fan, and if so, you’ll have seen to perform some of his short theatre
work. Or do we? Act Without Words, both one and two, pieces. The Lyon-based company According to Cathie Boyd. artistic director of but have you ever seen it done by Theatres du Shaman, led by director
Cryptic Productions. in the process of sta
ging puppets? This unique event comes from Bruno Meyssat will present four pieces, ‘ ' ‘ Siwpm S-Qbreyemova Err “369999 t»;
‘t'u
I» y" ‘3'; r‘v 1" .3'" 7. MY" 5 perform language, rhythm and voca quaiities In Brazil, Beckett of his work are divine. One of his
ices i'e e New York. I didn't want to finish up simply
replicating other work.‘ says Boyd. whose own was translated actors, Jeffrey Carre, who was assistant fascination with Beckett began as a teenager. quite late, so to director on Luc Bondy’s Macbeth, calls ‘Everybody knows Godot. Endgame and so a lot of artists Bruno’s work "opera with the body”. forth. but a lot of people aren't aware that he this is a new It’s a terrific description of what he wrote dance. television. film and a lot of other thing. The does.’ theatre work. It's important that a non-arts artistic director, person can go to these things. So the Louis Andre unusual suspect photographic exhibition. for example. is Cherubinie is 5C0“ 5‘0“? someth'Ml There something anyone can enjoy.’ obsessed with Graham Eatough needs little Boyd also feels that people of her generation Beckett.’ introduction to Scottish audiences. His (she‘s 29) have a different take on Beckett. ‘There She’s also work as artistic director of Glasgow’s are a lot of great directors still producing him who keen to Suspect Culture has attracted worked with Beckett. but this is about the younger emphasise the widespread acclaim, but it’s unusual to generation. These people never worked with him. lighter side. see him work outside his home and might have a different take on the work.‘ V‘s". ’People think company. But here, in a co-production The diversity of events is quite 17 " Beckett is dark with Cryptic Productions, the Tron, and bewildering. A piece called '. . . The Whole 1 [I p H 7 9 iii ' and depressing, Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree (where it will Thing '3‘ Coming ()ar ()f The Dark' even i H his view is too tour later in the year), this local artist includes a de-stressing session as part of the honest to be otherwise. But there’s steps outside his home base. event. a chill-out room for the hectic. clubbing something much lighter about the Something There is an adaptation Beckettophile with a kind of Beckett flotation puppets, they bring out the humour.’ of Beckett’s poem of the same name, tank. ‘You‘re on your back. in the dark.‘ Boyd That’s not to say it’s played for laughs; in which Eatough will be working with explains. ‘and lots of different layers of texts even Beckett traditionalists will agree composer David Paul Jones. The and music are fed in by audio streaming. It's that these pieces have much to say about collaboration will combine music, text great fun. and it brings people closer to Beckett.‘ the absurdity and tragedy of the human and physical performance, drawing on With readings from Mollov. Company and condition. a group of musicians from wildly L'image and trumpet music by Uwe Dierksen. . varied musical backgrounds. ’l’ve been the scene will be well set for 55 minutes of Sllent movers watching the collaboration process and relaxing contemplation. French get physical with Footfalls some really interesting things have Elsewhere. Belgian sound artist and director Now, as we all know, most of Beckett’s been happening,’ says Cathie Boyd. Ward Weiss reprises Beckett's I984 dance piece major theatrical works were originally ’This is two of the country’s leading for television Qaadrar. with his own development written in French, indicating the comfort artists combining for the first time.’
on it. Quat. in a single programme featuring four
i
'It’s important that a non-arts person can go to these things.’
Cathie Boyd
Scottish dancers. ‘Since it was originally written for television. he uses four cameras as part of the performance.‘ Boyd explains.
Weiss is characteristic of the bunch of Beckett groupies that Boyd has assembled for a festival which she began planning in 1995. What pulls it all together? ‘The musicality is so important.‘ she says. ‘l‘d say that rhythm is the important thing. It‘s the connecting element to all these things; each piece has a rhythm of its own. all about silence and sound.‘
Beckett Time is at various venues, Glasgow, Fri 13-Sun 22 Oct. See listings for details.
5 -l9 Oct 2000 THE lIST 25