Endgame – Steppenwolf, Chicago: 1st April 2010 - 6th June 2010
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*****
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“Me to play”…
My second trip to Chicago to see Billy, and I’ve still yet to meet him. “Can there be misery loftier than mine?” Ah well. But the play, oh yes the play, it was good. Beckett is interesting. The guy next to me fell asleep, and my dear father struggled not to. But it’s okay because I enjoyed it. Once again I was one of the youngest ones there, but that was okay. I didn’t get to much of billy, considering that the lady in front of me blocked my view, again “can there be misery loftier than mine”. I feel as though what made this play worthwhile was the way in which each of the actors carried out there lines. I say this because when I first read the script before the show it was hard for me to follow along, but during the production I was able to make more of a connection of what was going on. The writing is very poetic and at times cryptic but still worthwhile seeing. If I had another week of springbreak and another $500 I would certainly like to see it again. I encourage every one to go, even though you may think you might not like it because of the type of play it is, you should still go for the sake of challenging your mind…and of course to see Billy.
Peace,
Kiara (16)
Washington D.C
Wonderful, phenomenal….it put Beckett’s writing into something substantially understandable to those of us that studied it in school and said “Huh?” I found it facinating because there were so many parallels in my own life to how the character of Hamm (Billy) treated Clov…and my relationship as a caregiver to my 76 year old father (he’d be Hamm…LOL. If people are going to see Gil Grissom, they will be sorely disappointed as this character has taken him further away from his television persona then even that of Ray in Blackbird. I’m seeing it several times thanks to a generous ‘friend’ and it will be interesting to get the opinions of those going with me. One of the audience members said he loved the play but didn’t ‘get it’. Another said he now understood Shakespear better ???
The only thing that seemed to disappoint most was there is no ‘curtain call’ at the end as there usually is when the players address the audience and shed their characters but it was explained by Martha Lavey that it was the director’s decision that in this instance, he felt Beckette’s play did not need this as ‘closure’. I think I would have still liked to have one.
Was in the audience the first night and on Saturday. If you do not know what the play is about, if you are going to see a familiar “Grissom”–you will be disappointed. So read a little about it before going and, imo, you will be better prepared for this play. Beckett is always dark–and even tho, this play has been advertised as “comedy”–do not expect to laugh, much. You might catch a few lines as funny, but most were missed by the audience in both performances.
It is odd to see Petersen sit in one place, hair completely white, cut very short. He uses a lot of facial expressions for this play. He plays Hamm who never leaves the stage and he has most of the lines in the play. The ‘comic relief’ comes from his parents who are encased in barrels or “dust bins” on one side of the stage (which I think limits what a person can see from the left side of the theater). People around me did not figure out why the old couple were in the barrels.
It is a very quick reference, but I do think the story is of three generations with Hamm being the most powerful because he has money (rich–obvious by the chair he uses!), and Clov is a son, not a servant.
As to the acting, I really think this play is an easy role for Petersen! Others may not think so, but he seemed to coast through the lines with none of the angst, the emotions I saw in Dublin Carol and Blackbird. While some think the lines are confusing or convoluted, all the lines play on the previous ones (and the first night, one actor messed up the sequence, but it was well covered). While it may seem to be complicated, I don’t think the lines are difficult to learn (high schools do this play without difficulty).
The curtain call–weird–curtain came up, the actors were in the same positions the audience last saw them in, then it quickly came down. Both nights, applause lasted less than a minute which I thought was not a very respectful way of appreciation for the four actors!
The after play discussion was disappointing. A young woman (artistic director?) said more “duh” or “you know” or “raise your hand if…” than anyone I’ve heard in a long time! I’m not sure she knew much about the play because several people from the audience were much more knowledgeable AND she would not let them talk!
Overall–does not compare to Blackbird! And prices are much higher!
I went to the second Endgame preview and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Let me explain. I knew little of Beckett’s work beforehand other than it was considered to be challenging and by no means to everyone’s taste. I read the play and found it somewhat bizarre, albeit with touches of humor, and figured if Billy Petersen was going to act in it I would make the effort to see it. Then, the day before I went to Steppenwolf, I read an article in the Evanston Review about Endgame which included this:
‘Petersen added that audience members sometimes make the mistake of thinking, “‘This is an intellectual play. I have to try and figure it out.’ It’s not about figuring it out as much as it is about letting it happen.”’
This was balm to my simple mind, and I relaxed a bit. Thank you, Billy.
So I sat there and let it flow over me. I found myself laughing a lot more than I had expected, was engaged in the somber moments and intrigued by the absurd turns.
Acting from the inside of a trash bin or chair-bound can’t be easy, but the actors seemed right in the moment and pulled me into their weird world without a fight. Billy Petersen as Hamm the bully ruled magnificently from his threadbare throne, Ian Barford was right on the mark as Clov, and Martha Lavey and Francis Guinan played their smaller, very odd roles with gusto.
The simple staging helped me concentrate on the words and actions, and the characters’ interactions resonated with my own family and relationship experiences. The play wasn’t so strange after all.
I watched, I listened, I laughed and, despite myself, Endgame made me think.
What I did find a little strange was that there was no curtain call at the end. I asked about this and was told that “the decision to omit the curtain call is actually in response to Beckett’s wishes. When he directed the play himself, Beckett asked the actors to forgo the curtain call in order to preserve the final tableau in the audience’s mind.” That’s as may be: I don’t think anyone would easily forget the final scene, and I still would have liked to have a chance to show my appreciation to the actors. Even so, Steppenwolf’s production of Endgame is an intriguing mixture of funny, touching, sad and thought-provoking, and I recommend it.
I had the pleasure of seeing Endgame last night with my husband and my best friend. I wasn’t sure how either of them would react to the play or if they would enjoy it, I was highly anticipating the experience though. We relied on the, usually, timely bus system to get us to the theatre. I was certain we would be too late and they would have closed the doors by the time we finally made it there! We had about 2 minutes to spare, I’m very thankful they were a little late getting started. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, the timing, delivery and interaction between Ian and Billy was so engaging the time flew. It certainly didn’t feel like 75 minutes. I found it very funny, dark as expected but also suprisingly funny. I did notice more than one person having a hard time focusing on what was happening on stage, they were very fidgety which I found a bit distracting. My friend and hubby enjoyed it as much as I did. We talked about it all the way to the pizza joint and after eating on the walk back to the hotel. With only 3 more days of performances I hope anyone else that goes enjoys it as much as I did.