Krapp’s Last Tape & Embers

Beauty by the master: This play represents Beckett at what is without doubt his most accessible and possibly his most beautiful. Beckett adores using human memory and the pain of nostalgia in his works, and both of these themes are put to astonishing use in this play.

In 'Krapp's Last Tape', our protagonist Krapp, now in his late 60s, plays back tapes that he has recorded on previous birthdays. Every year this task becomes a more and more onerous one, and every year he is more and more embarassed by "that stupid b**tard I took myself for thirty years ago". The pain of reconstructing the past is a pain that Beckett uses to dolourous effect throughout his prose and dramatic works and its use is particularly powerful here.

Although this show more play is in fact a monologue, it would appear to take the form of a conversation between a past and present Krapp. This allows the spectator to witness a striking decline in the morale and optimism of the play's protagonist in the intervening thirty years. One is left to assume that the mental attitude of the character will continue to rot over the miserable years that are left to him.

This beautiful rendering of sadness and human pain, is typical of one of the most astonishing and talented writers of the modern era. show less

Embers was written by Beckett in 1959, being commissioned by The Third Programme. (Has Radio 3 commissioned any plays recently?) It is a short play lasting about half an hour. Most of it is a monologue by the main character Henry, who sits alone (or is he?) on a shingle beach, talking to the spirit of his deceased father. When he doesn’t reply he calls up his wife Ada, who appears as a distant voice, her movements make no sound. Presumably she is dead too. They talk about their child Addie, a miserable, lonely, demanding thing whose life training (such as playing the piano or riding) always ends in tears: “she must learn, she will learn.” Is Addie dead too? It is never clear what happened to her or Ada. Nor is it clear how his show more father died – apparently drowned: “we never found your body, you know. That held up probate an unconscionable time. They said there was nothing to prove you hadn’t run away and were alive and well somewhere in the Argentine for example. That grieved mother greatly.” Towards the end of the play an incident is recalled from Henry and Ada’s courting days, just before the father’s death, when there was a fracas in the family home. Nothing is clearly stated, but could Henry have played a part in the death of his father (if it happened), or was it suicide?
Meanwhile there is another play within this play, made up by Henry’s imagination: Bolton, an old man who has called Holloway, his doctor, out on a freezing snowy night. It is never stated what Bolton wants, but a vivid scene is painted of Bolton, “standing there in his old red dressing gown... no light, just the light of the fire… dying glow… embers…” pleading desperately with Holloway: “please, please.” The doctor refuses the request (whatever it is): “call a man out, an old friend, in the cold and dark, an old friend, urgent need, bring the bag, then not a word, no explanation, no heat, no light…” …ghastly scene, wishes to God he hadn't come, no good, fire out, bitter cold, great trouble, white world, not a sound, no good… No good.

The writing is vivid but vague. There are long pauses, also odd sounds called up by Henry: the drip of a tap, the gallop of hooves. And all the while there is the sound of the sea in the background. show less

painful to watch but captivating on the page.