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Last fall the Duchess Theatre in London mounted a new production of Endgame, directed by Simon McBurney. The first thing that really struck me was the fine set designed by Tim Hadley. It was the requisite grey, a smoky grey, with wreaths of smoke slowly moving around throughout the play. Dust was everywhere, on the window sills, on the characters' clothes, and any movement or impact tended to raise a little cloud of dust. The windows were at step-ladder height, while the bins were to the right and the door to the left (in opposition to the stage directions), but of course Hamm's chair was placed in the centre. There was no picture turned against the wall (a feature that has intrigued many of my students over the years), but this was not an important omission. The set continued upwards, so high that the ceiling couldn't be seen. This helped to communicate the idea of the inside of a head, with the windows as eyes and the vaulted set as cranium, enforcing the idea of a vast emptiness, populated by just the four characters. Rather than dustsheets, Hamm, Nagg and Nell were covered in plastic. Simon McBurney as Clov folded each of these sheets diagonally, slowly, with patience and care, until they were small enough to fit in his pocket. This was an effective piece of business, echoed by Mark Rylance as Hamm when he folded his handkerchief in the same careful way and tucked it into his pocket.
McBurney' s stance, slightly bowed, was very effective, as was his stiff-legged walk. He set about the 'wake-up' mime by opening each curtain abruptly with a drawstring. Thus each eye was opened, one at a time, suddenly, with very little light resulting, followed by the uncovering of Nagg, Nell, and then Hamm. We could hear Clov's breathing and wheezing, signalling the effort involved and the difficulty that movement had for him. His brief laughs, on every occasion, were greeted with laughter by the audience. I was a little concerned at the start of the performance: what if this audience had seen the recent Waiting for Godot, starring Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart, and were anticipating a production which aimed predominantly to entertain by highlighting and making...