Endgame

A pinnacle of Beckett’s characteristic raw minimalism, Endgame is a pure and devastating distillation of the human essence in the face of approaching death. Originally written in French and translated into English by Beckett himself, this dark, morbidly funny play is considered by many critics to be his greatest single work. Four characters shelter in a bare room: Hamm the master, blind, and in a wheelchair, Clov, his servant, and Hamm’s father and mother, Nagg and Nell, who live in garbage cans. Hamm taunts and abuses Clov, makes him move him around the room, fetch objects, and look out the window for signs of life. “Don’t we laugh?” they say, as if trying to convince themselves that is so. Outside all seems dead and nothing happens. Inside, the characters pass the time bantering, telling stories, mortifying each other, and toying with their own fears and the illusions of a possible change, all along sensing the inevitability of their end.