Endgame, by
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalist....
, is a one-act play with four characters. It was originally written in French, entitled
Fin de partie; as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the
Royal Court TheatreThe Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London, opening on 3 April 1957. It is commonly considered, along with such works as
Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait for someone named Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere.Voted "the most significant English...
, to be among Beckett's most important works.
Synopsis
The protagonists of the play are Hamm, an aged master who is blind and not able to stand up, and his servant Clov, who cannot sit down. They exist in a tiny house by the sea, although the dialogue suggests that there is nothing left outside—no sea, no sun, no clouds. The two characters, mutually dependent, have been fighting for years and continue to do so as the play progresses. Clov always wants to leave but never seems to be able. Also present are Hamm's legless parents Nagg and Nell, who live in rubbish bins upstage and initially request food or argue inanely.
Interpretation
The English title is taken from the last part of a
chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
game, when there are very few pieces left. (The French title can be applied to games besides chess, and Beckett lamented the fact that there was no precise English equivalent). Beckett himself was known to be an avid chess player; the struggle of Hamm to accept the end can be compared to the refusal of novice players to admit defeat, whereas experts normally resign after a serious blunder or setback.
The literary critic
Harold BloomHarold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, currently Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University...
considers
Hamm to be an allusion to
HamletThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then...
and finds an intertext (transumptive
litotesIn rhetoric, litotes is a figure of speech in which a certain statement is expressed by denying its opposite. For example, rather than merely saying that a person is rather attractive , one might say that he or she is "not unattractive"....
) within Hamm's line:
-
- '...it's time it ended...and yet I hesitate, I hesitate to...to end.'
Bloom contends this is an intertext with Hamlet's famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy, in which doubt prevents Hamlet from taking decisive action, and
Endgame is a play devoid of action, in Beckett's typical
absurdistAbsurdism is a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe ultimately fail , because no such meaning exists, at least in relation to the individual...
style.
It has also been suggested that Hamm also relates to
ham actor and
Ham, son of NoahHam , according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan.- Ham in the Bible :The story of Ham is related in...
, while Clov is a truncated version of Clown, as well as suggesting cloven hoof (of the devil) and glove (a distant echo of hand and glove, perhaps). Nagg suggests
nagging and the German
nagen (to gnaw), while Nell recalls Dickens'
Little NellThe Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London....
. (Theodor Adorno
Trying to Understand Endgame). Equally Hamm could be short for Hammer and Clov be
clove (etymologically
nailhttp://www.answers.com/clove&r=67), hammer and nail representing one aspect of their relationship. In this light, Nagg and Nell, taken together, may suggest the German
Nagel (nail); vague references in the text to Hamm's neighbor, Mother
Pegg, are also relevant.
Ruby Cohn, in her book
Back to Beckett, writes that "Beckett's favorite line in the play is Hamm's deduction from Clov's observation that Nagg is crying: 'Then he's living.' But in Berlin he felt that the most
important sentence is Nell's 'Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.' And he directed his play to show the fun of unhappiness."
The implication in the play is that the characters live in an unchanging, static state. Each day contains the actions and reactions of the day before, until each event takes on an almost ritualistic quality. It is made clear, through the text, that the characters have a past (most notably through Nagg and Nell who conjure up memories of tandem rides in the Ardennes). However, there is no indication that they may have a future. Even the death of Nell, which occurs towards the end of the play, is greeted with a lack of surprise. The isolated setting, the diseased characters, and the constant references to aspects of civilization that no longer exist, have led many to suggest the play is post-nuclear. However, Beckett always denied this.
SteppenwolfSteppenwolf is a German word meaning wolf of the steppe. It should not be confused with Canis latrans, the coyote, which is only found in North America...
Downstairs Theatre, ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
- Directed by Frank Galati
Frank Galati is an American director, writer and actor. He is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, an associate director at Goodman Theatre, and a professor of performance at Northwestern University. In 2004, Galati was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame...
. The play will be premiere April 1st 2010 - June 6th 2010.
- Hamm .... Ian Barford
Ian Barford is American stage and television actor.- Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre :*Endgame .... Hamm*Up *August: Osage County .... Little Charles*Love Song*Lost Land*The Libertine*Three Days of Rain...
- Clov .... Francis Guinan
Francis V. Guinan, Jr. is an American television and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Edgar Teller the patriarch in the short-lived NBC series Eerie, Indiana. He has been a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble since 1979. He has made guest appearances in many...
- Nell .... Martha Lavey
- Nagg .... William Petersen
William Louis Petersen is a Golden Globe and Emmy nominated American actor and producer, best known for playing Dr. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom on the hit CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
Duchess TheatreThe Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November, 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
, London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
- Directed by Simon McBurney
Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE is an English Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
, a Complicité’s production. The play will be premiere October 15th 2009 - December 5th 2009.
- Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...
as Hamm
- Simon McBurney
Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE is an English Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
as Clov
- Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes OBE is an English actress and voice artist.Margolyes earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence ....
as Nell
- Tom Hickey
Tom Hickey is an Irish actor who has appeared in stage plays, films, and TV series.Born in Kildare, Hickey began his career in 1963 at Deirdre O'Connell's Stanislavski Studio in Dublin where he trained in Stanislavski's 'system' of acting. In 1965 he joined the cast of RTÉ television's new rural...
as Nagg
San Quentin Workshop's Production
- The play had premiere in 1991.
- Alex Mandell .... Nagg
Film
- Directed by Tony Coe.
- Hamm .... Norman Beaton
- Clov .... Stephen Rea
- Nagg .... Charlie Drake
- Nell .... Kate Binchy
- Directed by Conor McPherson.
- Hamm .... Michael Gambon
- Clov .... David Thewlis
- Nell .... Jean Anderson
- Nagg .... Charles Simon
External links