A classic production that does nothing to hold a contemporary theatre audience.
To see an old man acting like a child, playing peek-a-boo with the audience, is both warmly amusing and desperately sad. Running at under an hour, Krapp's Last Tape, a one man show by Samuel Beckett, sees Sir Michael Gambon take on the mischievous role of Krapp at 69 years of age as he looks back on years of regret.
This play will be loved by people whose most interesting hobby, like Krapp's, is reminiscing (think of them what you will). On “the awful occasion” of his birthday, Krapp records his memoirs from the last year, and on his 69th, he listens to a recording he made thirty years previously. It reveals the memory of a lost love, a regret he still lives with.
Despite the legendary Sir Michael, who is fantastic on stage, the younger Krapp – on tape – drones. He is unsettlingly pompous and it takes a dedicated Beckett fan to want to listen to him. There's very little that is captivating about this play aside from Gambon's embodiment of the dishevelled, unkempt Krapp, who grows increasingly impatient with his younger self. 39-year-old Krapp meanders through his memory on tape: he indulges in thoughts of himself, his mother's death, his drinking and oddly obsessive banana consumption. Most touching are the lyrical memories of his trysts, never cherished as they should have been.
Nonetheless, it is difficult to pity Krapp: he is self-indulgent, stubborn, unreasonable and frustrated by his own choices. But his stage presence is a powerful warning. The set is poetic in design and helps us warm to him. Amidst pools of light and patches of dark Krapp moves back and forth from his dank cubby-hole where he stores his tapes and probably his booze. The light above his desk makes him feel less lonely, but as he becomes staler through inactivity, he also has to make his way through the dark to get to his memories.
This production is what you'd expect from a Beckett script, but it does little to hold the attention of a contemporary audience.
Krapp's Last Tape runs at Duchess Theatre until 20th November
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