Endgame by Samuel Beckett

Endgame is a one-act, four-character play by Samuel Beckett. It tells the story of Hamm, a blind man who cannot stand; Clov, his servant, who cannot sit; and Hamm’s parents, Nagg and Nell, who have no legs and live in rubbish bins.

Ah the old questions, the old answers, there’s nothing like them.

What more is there to tell?

(Somehow, human civilisation arrived at the point where someone made this play.)

What remains?

(The things in the world, already few, are becoming gradually more scarce.)

What is there besides the three-legged dog? The alarm clock?

(Old wall. The gaff. The sheets. The ladder. The telescope. Those bins. That chair. The toque. The windows.)

Would he have been satisfied with less?

(There are no more bicycle wheels.)

Are there any more sugar-plums?

(No. Spoiler alert. No painkillers either.)

Except the one, of course.

(Is the play monstrous, or beautiful? Tragic, or comic? Or both?)

It’s not certain.

Directed by Gavin Quinn

Designed by Aedin Cosgrove

Cast includes Andrew Bennett and Des Keogh

Dramaturg: Nicholas Johnson.

On Pan Pan’s production of Samuel Beckett’s ALL THAT FALL

“This tension is perfectly judged – it is not enough to distract from the fine performances and Beckett’s bleakly funny text, but it is enough to justify the whole idea of listening to them inside a controlled and designed environment.” Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times

“Gavin Quinn’s production and Jimmy Eadie’s sound design creates a remarkable aural tapestry that ranges from the actors impersonating doves to a final storm of wind and rain achieves Lear-like proportions.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

“Gavin Quinn’s radical production goes further in honoring the spirit of Beckett’s wish, situating the play in the realm of pure imagination.” The New York Times

“Beckett wanted the play “to come out of the dark”, and Gavin Quinn’s intriguing installation-style production for Pan Pan Theatre delivers just that. As if to remind of the proximity of death, the audience is seated on cushions embroidered with skulls in individual rocking chairs. Glowing lightbulbs hang above us like pitiless stars. There are no live actors, only voices (and sound and lighting effects), but it always feels bleatingly alive.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

Supported by the Arts Council and Dublin City Council.