Surrealist ‘Endgame’ not your usual Playhouse fare
Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, whose run at the Playhouse begins September 17th, works in a dark, surrealist language and aesthetic rarely highlighted in VCU’s Theatre department.
Nick Bonadies
Spectrum Editor
An independently student-produced play plans to shake up VCU Theatre precedent next week at the Shafer Street Playhouse. Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, whose run at the Playhouse begins September 17th, works in a dark, surrealist language and aesthetic rarely highlighted in VCU’s Theatre department.
“The first thing that will hit you is the dark comedy of the whole thing – that awful, gritty comedy where it’s painful to laugh, but you can’t help but laugh,” said director Phil Vollmer. Endgame takes place in a bleak, post-apocalyptic world where nothing exists as it used to – and each of the four characters are forced to survive among one another. The characters, who have ostensibly been doing so for years, argue inanely, stewing in a world without a future.
The central character cannot stand, and his servant cannot sit; his mother and father, who have no legs, live in trashcans. The name Endgame suggests a world where very little is still alive: the chess term refers to the final few turns of a game, where very few pieces remain on the board.
Vollmer, a 2nd year graduate student in Theatre Pedagogy and Directing, selected the play for an under-representation he perceived in the VCU Theatre department.
“There’s very little Beckett in our curriculum,” he said. Beckett, who died in 1989, is considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, having won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969 – The Nobel Committee cited his exemplification of “the destitution of modern man.”
“There’s very little exposure to him,” Vollmer said. “We’re working in a style which goes against basically everything you’re taught in conventional acting schools and classes.”
“I believe Beckett is incredibly important in the theatre world – incredibly relevant to where theatre is going, and what modern theatre is today,” said Vollmer.
“It’s completely opposite than any other theatre training we’ve received,” said Tommy Callan, fourth-year Theatre Performance major who plays Hamm, the central character (literally – the sparse, minimal staging centers around Hamm’s chair.) “(We’re taught) you have to create every tiny aspect of your character to make it real. … Beckett wanted to strip down the characters to their basest.”
However, “There’s a great deal of humanity that exists in these characters,” added Callan, who said that the play’s desolate nature belies a profound emotional investment.
Tori Hirsch-Straus, fourth-year Theatre Performance major playing Clov (Hamm’s servant – unable to sit,) echoed the sentiment: “The relationships are real – Especially when they’re trying not to let the relationships show, it breaks through.”
According to director Vollmer, much of the play’s intrigue comes from Beckett’s masterful use of language – the dialogue, even when delivered with an ashen “colorlessness,” exhibits a complex musicality. “That’s why (Beckett) chooses that word at that particular moment. … It’s kind of like Shakespeare, in that respect.”
Callan recalled working with Vollmer on a particular monologue: “(The idea was) to envision this not as a monologue, not as text, but as music. The flows, the staccato, the legato –all of that pervades the entire play.”
“I’ve never seen a play (of this genre) done in this department,” said Callan. “Our education in the Theatre department is based on realism … We’ll read surrealist plays, but rarely do we get up on our feet and do it. … (What drew me to the play) was the idea that we would explore something completely new and completely different. If I wanted to invite someone, that’s what I would say – It’s going to be like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
“It’s a trip,” said Vollmer, who hopes anyone interested in a different brand of theatre will attend. “It truly showcases, in a kind of microcosm, what it’d be like in a post-apocalyptic world where nothing else exists – but the people you find yourself surviving with.”
Hirsch-Straus agreed in describing Endgame as an opportunity to experience theatre in a new and striking way. “You will be surprised by how you connect to it.”
Samuel Beckett’s Endgame will run from September 17th to the 19th at Shafer Street Playhouse, starring Tommy Callan, Tori Hirsch-Straus, Ian Page, and Emily Marsh. Phil Vollmer directs. Admission is free. Visit http://shaferalliancelabtheatre.webs.com for a full Shafer Street Playhouse schedule.
