Endgame Notes

Endgame Notes:

• Written by Samuel Beckett. Samuel Beckett was born in 1906 of Irish descent and died in 1989. Novelist, poet, playwright and director, Beckett lived mostly in Paris, and wrote his works in either English or French. He attended Trinity College in Dublin and his writings were influenced by World War Two and The French Resistance. He wrote mostly dark comedy. During his life, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. His most well known works are as follows: Murphy, Molloy, The Unnameable, Watt, Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape and How It Is.
• It first premiered in London in 1957 and one of Beckett's most well known and accomplished works.
• One act (no intermission)
• Cast of four characters: Hamm(main character. He is unable to see or walk.), Clov(Hamm’s servant), Nagg(father of Hamm), and Nell (mother of Hamm)
• It is Theatre of the Absurd, or tragicomedy, meaning it combines these two genres.
• The play follows the story of Hamm, who acts out. In the end, he is left alone in a room where he has been trapped for the duration of the play and for many years.
  The cast includes: Reg E. Cathey, Lynn Cohen, Brian Dennehy, and Joe Grifasi.