Stellar cast in a gem that explores our human frailty
BEVERLEY BROMMERT
SMALL wonder that Samuel Beckett included Endgame among his favourite works: with its arresting blend of limpid simplicity and existentialist angst, black humour and profound compassion, this play is one of the gems of 20th century theatre. Nor has the passage of six decades dimmed its lustre or lessened its impact and relevance.
Director Strike, astute as ever, has cast two actors noted for their keen sense of fun in the leading roles to do justice to the clownish elements in Beckett’s work without the risk of trivialising the theme, to wit the horror of the human condition.
Co-dependency
In their grotesque attire, with some stylisation of gesture and facial expression, the pair retain an iron grasp of their respective personae, enacting the rituals of bondage between master and servant in a relationship of no slight ambiguity.
Neither is free to opt out, even when circumstances conduce to do so, and the final image of Clov (the servant) rooted to the spot, suitcase and umbrella in hand but unable to depart, says it all.
Hamm, the master, is imperious and flinty, but his authority is undermined by physical dependence on hired help given his blindness and confinement to a chair. Significantly, when he asks Clov about the latter’s eyesight and mobility, the answer to both is “bad”. They are essentially in the same state, like every human on this planet.
Hamm’s immediate forbears are no better off, ending their days in a pair of rubbish bins and surviving on scraps of questionable nutrition, like a dog biscuit (to share).
This bleak metaphor of victimised old age introduces a secondary theme, that of the parent/child relationship, and like the one between master and servant, it is not edifying.
The title Endgame conflates both recreation (game) and termination, and all four characters want the same thing; they are sick of the game (aka life) and wish it to be over, as Clov’s wistful “… it’s finished, nearly finished, it must be over”, ushers in the opening scene. The trouble is that they have no choice in the matter.
Both Kellermann and Philander in the cameo roles of Hamm’s father and mother make brief but stellar contributions; Buckland and Van Vuuren impress mightily as Hamm and Clov, respectively.
Strike’s sensitive direction respects Beckett’s prescriptions regarding staging and diction, drawing the audience into the nightmarish existence of the quartet before them.
Endgame is a salutary and unforgettable experience for lovers of theatre and philosophy alike.