Endgame

Synopsis

Beckett's play is a study in isolation, time and humanity, focusing on two primary characters, hamm and Clov, and Hamm's parents, Nagg and nell, who live in the dustbin. Like Waiting for Godot, Endgame is a play of paralysis and stagnation. The characters have intentions but they remain largely unfulfilled; there is a sense that the anti-heroes are disconnected from the everyday or even that they are entirely alone in the world. The play ends with Clov ready to leave and yet strangely compelled to remain in this never-ending cyclical prison. The paralysis that is an evident theme in the text became the key issue in this version. With set design by Glasgow-based Sharmanka, Theatre Workshop's production was visually arresting with peculiar, multi-faceted contraptions littering the stage. As Joyce MacMillan suggests in The Scotsman "this remains a rich and memorable staging of a great play"