Samuel Beckett’s play, Krapp’s Last Tape, was first performed in 1958 in London by County Armagh actor Patrick McGee. The play is a one-hour one-act drama that explores themes of memory, time, and aloneness. The play follows the character Krapp, an aging and failed writer, as he listens to a tape recording he made of himself 30 years earlier on his 39th birthday. As Krapp listens to the recording, he reflects on his past and the choices he has made in his life. The play is considered Beckett’s most romantic and accessible work.
In Arts Over Borders’ performed-reading presentation, special permission has been obtained from the Beckett Estate for the live actor (Olivier nominated stage and screen actor Malcolm Sinclair) to record his younger self of 30 years through the assistance of AI. For the first time in the play’s history, the two voices will have a notable tonal difference between the younger and older man, as stipulated by Beckett in his play.
The Whale Theatre’s engagement of this world premiere officially opens the new Samuel Beckett Biennale between Ireland and Great Britain, a new festival that explores Beckett’s work through experimentation and that is shared between individual locations in Ireland and Great Britain associated with Beckett’s life and work. Beckett’s mother, May, lived in Greystones in the years leading up to her death (50). In the play, Krapp talks about his mother’s death in Dublin. Both she and Beckett’s father (Frank) are buried just outside Greystones.
The Whale Theatre’s presentation of Krapp’s Last Tape is also a time-specific occasion for Beckett aficionados and wider to attend the play at the time of year the younger Krapp recorded his tapes, once a year at the spring equinox (March 20).
Malcolm Sinclair has been an actor for almost fifty years. Most recent theatre work includes Withnail and I at Birmingham Rep, Dear Octopus at the National Theatre, and As You Like It at the RSC. Films include Casino Royale, V For Vendetta, Survival and The Choral to be released later this year. Television includes Andor, That Day We Sang, The Hollow Crown and a tv movie The Bloody Irish. Malcolm was President of British Equity for eight years.
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