Stage greats set to lay on dark humour in ‘Endgame’
SAMUEL Beckett’s incandescent classic Endgame – featuring a star-studded and multi-award-winning cast and creative team – will be staged at the Baxter’s Golden Arrow Studio stage from August 8 to 25, with Andrew Buckland, Rob van Vuuren, Antoinette Kellerman and Soli Philander. It is directed by Sylvaine Strike. “Nothing makes more sense than to have Samuel Beckett’s brilliant play about senselessness, performed by two ludicrous clowns who are finally joining forces – Andrew Buckland and Rob van Vuuren,” says Strike.
Not forgetting her own sense of the absurd and magic that she cleverly weaves into her work and which has become her signature of success.
“Having two theatre icons, Antoinette Kellerman and Soli Philander, play in the supporting roles, is a dream for any director. If, for no other reason, than to spend time in the company of these South African theatre greats, performing one of the most extraordinary plays written. They will take the audience on a journey into the dark heart of the post-apocalyptic circus of this play.”
The production brings together the talent and expertise of comic and theatrical craftsmen and women in what has been described as one of Beckett’s favourite plays. Buckland plays the role of Hamm, with Van Vuuren as Clov, and Philander and Kellerman as Nagg and Nell. Set and lighting design is by Patrick Curtis and costume design by Birrie le Roux.
Beckett was born in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday April 13, 1906. He is described as an avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, poet and literary translator, who lived in Paris where he wrote inEnglish and French. In 1969 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Endgame, Waiting for Godot and Krapps Last Tape being some of his best-known plays.
His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human existence, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour, which is why he is considered one of the last modernist writers and one of the key figures in what is called “Theatre of the Absurd”.
Endgame explores the relationship of master and servant; boss clown and underdog and in some contexts father and son; parent and child.
The laughter triggered when watching the play allows its audience to come to terms with the horror and ecstasy of existence.
In this apparently simple symbiosis lies the intricate complexity of a toxic co-dependency in all its familiar dark hilarity and pain; for at the core of this work by Beckett, is the desperately funny, heart breaking interplay between two classic characters of world theatre.
limited season runs from August 8 to 25 at 7.30pm, Monday to Saturday, with previews on the 8th and 9th.
Ticket prices from R120 to R160 and R180. Book through Webtickets or selected Pick n Pay stores.
There is an age restriction of 12 years and parental guidance is advised.