KRAPP'S LAST TAPE

Last Tuesday I have visited with a friend the performance of a play by Beckett called "Krapp's Last Tape". As most of Beckett's plays it is not a uplifting and sparkling song and dance. As an hour and a half monologue of an elderly male who looks back on his life by listening to tapes he recorded on each of his birthdays, it was very confronting and intense. All those missed opportunities and bad memories ! Somehow it was also very confronting and recognisable to me !

At first I thought it would not be a very good idea to go to a very depressing piece, but the recension in the newspaper that it was very well performed, highly confronting and absurdist / post-modern convinced me that it is a performance I would like. As such I love plays that are not down-to-earth or mainstream and it is not essential to understand everything. It should make you think what is in it for me and that is for everyone different.

And it is uncomfortable: long silences, no music, only one actor, slow pace. With the absurdistic elements and the outbursts of uncontrolled emotions a challenge ! But I thought Steven van Watermeulen as Krapp was very intense and convincing. Worth seeing. And personally I like to go to the Royal Theatre in The Hague; it is very festive and elegant.