Becket Shorts - A Review By George Fleeton

Queen’s Drama students have just given five of Samuel Beckett’s plays in their new Brian Friel Theatre (March 09-11).

The opening night was very well attended by an appreciative, in-thrall and partisan audience.

The selection of material from among Beckett’s fifteen shorter plays for theatre was predictable but no less fascinating for that, even if the comic naturalism of some was sacrificed for the eviscerated minimalism of others, namely Breath, Rockaby and Not I.

The compaction in these three plays of speech and silences never ceases to exhilarate, and these productions (Breath, for example, last about 45 seconds) caught it dead centre.

I missed favourites like Play and Ohio Impromptu in this mélange, particularly as Catastrophe, every time I see it, is such an awkward piece to get across – one of Beckett’s less accomplished concepts, perhaps?

[caption id="attachment_6989" align="alignright" width="241" caption="Samuel Beckett"][/caption]

Meanwhile the theatrical focus on the woman in Rockaby was mesmerising, and Leah O’Rourke’s sculpted stillness impressive.

In Not I that intensity of focus was sustained, on the voice, screams and mouth of Caitriona Reilly.

Come and Go is easily the most conventional drama in this selection: formal, elegant, even colourful in a drab way. There are only 121 words in the text (excluding some in the asides which we don’t hear).

All in all, this rarefied theatre was splendidly put across, and the commitment of the five young actors was tangible, infectious even.

At Belfast Metropolitan College we are also working on Beckett, with our Media students, and addressing six of his plays for radio (including The Old Tune) which we are producing on film with professional actors, while his Film (previously made with Buster Keaton) is being reworked.

All of these should be available to see in May.

(George Fleeton teaches Opera and Cinema in Higher Education.)