"Beckett by Brook" Review
“Beckett by Brook” Review
Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne bring about an exquisite production of four short plays written by Samuel Beckett, creating an hour-long watch that is so engaging you barely feel like any time has passed at all. The four plays performed are "Rough for Theatre I" with Marcello Magni and Jos Houben, "Rockaby" with Kathryn Hunter, "Act Without Words II" with Marcello Magni and Jos Houben again, and "Come and Go" with all three; Marcello Magni, Jos Houben, and Kathryn Hunter.
The first play, "Rough for Theatre I" is a short play which follows a blind beggar and wheelchair-using man. The former laments the lack of touch from another while the latter laments emotional connection; both alone. Through this one-act play they develop a symbiotic relationship, however this is threatened by their own impulses, such as the blind man's touch deprivation leading to him desiring to feel the wheelchair-using man and the wheelchair-using man's desire to move quickly as well as him missing his son, leading to him calling the blind man "Billy". This play ends, as Beckett plays often do, with an ambiguously open-ended note, as the wheelchair-using man does not give the blind man a straight answer on whether it is day or not, and it ends with both sitting in uncertainty about the future, if there even is one.
The second play is "Rockaby", a one-woman play following an elderly woman in a rocking chair as she recalls her search for another like herself, spoken in fractured sentences and in the third person, giving the tale a haunting sense of destiny, unable to be changed as not even the performer is in control. As the performance continues, the woman in the story slowly comes to accept that she will not be able to find anyone like her, or anyone at all, and so she sits and waits for death, just like her mother before her. The haunting repetition of the reoccurring phrase "time she stopped" switches from a simple statement that she should stop these actions to a prophetic omen that it was time for her to die. This play uses every facet available to imbue the audience with the sense of utter loneliness, the desperation for connection, and the depression of isolation. That last point was the most prominent for me personally as, for me, I watched this play during my fourth week of the UK Lockdown of 2020 due to the recent Coronavirus outbreak, and so isolation and loneliness was very prominent in the current state of my life. I loved this short play, especially the immersive performance by Kathryn Hunter who, despite the original play using recorded audio, spoke the lines out loud and acted the part, which created a very engaging experience that deeply resonated with me in these isolated times.
The third is "Act Without Words II" and I personally found this one to be the funniest. When a pen-like stick comes to awaken two very different people in terms of mood and performance as they each go about their similar lives with very different attitudes, ending their day by setting up the circumstances for the start of the other's day. This play of exaggerated mimes shows the many dualities of man, respectively; unhealthy and healthy, a lack of self-care and an abundance of self-care, unorganised and organised, reckless and careful, messy and tidy, bored and purposeful, depressed and optimistic, sad and happy. It is also important to note that both take almost exactly the amount of time, despite one deciding to do more, as they are quick and efficient in what they do, which further shows how one's attitude to life defines the kind of life lived, not the circumstances or contents of said life. I enjoyed this play as, for me, it felt like a twist on the tale of Sisyphus, a Greek myth of a man cursed to forever roll a rock up a mountain, as "Act Without Words II" shows that no matter what the life entails, the attitude can change the tone of it and can turn the painful punishment or awful circumstance into a lovely day. I also found it interesting that the original play refers to the stick as a "goad", a farming implement, which indicates that life is spurred on by a cruel God, or at least indicates that life is that of a farm animal being shoved onward by a cattle prod. However, in Brook's production, the stick is more like a pen, which could symbolise that life is a play and could emphasise other symbolism within the play (such as the dualities of man) by embracing the fact that it is a play, one written by an author with creative intent. I really liked this play, not only is it funny and very simple, but it also holds a lot worth discussing and so I would recommend watching it and talking about it with others.
The fourth and final, and my personal favourite, is "Come and Go" which follows three elderly women, Flo and Vi and Ru, sitting at a bench and recalling their pasts and while each walk away for a moment, the remaining two inaudibly talk about the missing third behind their back, as if they were children again. With very few lines in the play, each one acts as a form of small-talk, and heightening tension as there's a feeling that this may break their bonds, however that never happens as it ends showing them all connecting over their childhood memories, almost like they can't afford to their what little bonds they have left, and also showing that no matter how old you are, you can still act like children, both in bad ways and in good ways.
Throughout these plays, I have to note the masterful performance by the talented Kathryn Hunter who not only steals the show but outperforms the other two actors who are already, in their own right, fantastic. I think Beckett by Brook is a fantastic watch that is a great way to spend your time during Lockdown.
Stream “Beckett By Brook” online for free right now: https://vimeo.com/398851333
