RETURN TO HOMEPAGE
Born in Dublin on April 13, 1906, Beckett was a master of the absurd, creating tortured characters who repeatedly find themselves in inexplicable situations from which there appears to be no possible release or escape. They struggle with suffering and meaninglessness – and we, as witnesses, feel compassion for their agony even as we laugh at their ludicrous predicaments. It seems entirely appropriate that Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1969 for writing “in which the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation.”
Grant Neale, co-artistic director of the Nomad Theatrical Company in New York City, says of Beckett’s writing: “It’s peerless. There’s no pandering in it. He had a distinct sense of showmanship, but he went far beyond just trying to please the crowd. You also sense a direct connection between his mind and his pen – there’s no inhibition or fear in his writing.”
Still relevant
How does Beckett’s work relate to contemporary times? “His characters are individuals trying to find themselves and their place in the world,” says Neale. “They’re lost but they don’t give up. They’re resilient, and that speaks to us now, in these frightening times of war, terrorism and environmental disaster. We have so many reasons to despair, and yet we keep on going with a lot of fortitude. Beckett’s characters – those in Waiting for Godot, for example – consistently go through the same thing, and he shows us the greatness in that.”
Guy Gsell, managing director of the Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey, sees the centennial as the perfect time to look at Beckett’s oeuvre through a contemporary lens. “That’s what we do here at Two River Theater – explore how classic works speak to us today,” he notes. “Beckett was looking at a lot of the same issues in the pre-World War 11 era, but he brought a post-war sensibility to it all. He was working in literary and cultural traditions that had been around for a long time, but he was also taking them apart and looking at them through the lens of the post-war world.”
Re-considering Beckett’s work during this centennial year should remind us of how important he was as a writer and how entertaining his works can be, Gsell adds. “Some of his one-acts are sublime – and yet you see a wide gamut of reactions from theater audiences.” Attend a production of one of his absurdist plays, and you’ll find some in the audience laughing (albeit nervously) while others feel trapped in what they consider the ultimate experience of boredom. “That’s what can happen with a work that combines great clowning and a philosophical approach,” says Gsell.
Theater director and producer Robert Gilbo of New York City, who has worked with numerous full-length and one-act plays by Beckett, also sees the existentialist writer as highly relevant in today’s world – and influential in modern theater. “You can’t name a modern playwright who hasn’t been affected by Beckett. Harold Pinter, for example, took everything he wrote to Beckett before showing it to his producer. Beckett was his literary godfather.”Gilbo points to one of his favorite lines – the last line of the trilogy of novels, Malloy: “I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” This is the situation – the state of anxiety – that we find ourselves in during the 21st century, Gilbo points out. “Beckett wasn’t just a nihilist. He wrote about the pain of our humanity.”