Theatre review: Endgame / Rough for Theatre II

A fairly quick review, I think, for the latest star vehicle at the Old Vic: Regular readers of this blog may both recall that I finally called time on Samuel Beckett a few years ago, having decided that I'd given him more than enough chances, and that no redeeming feature had ever been enough to make up for my dislike of his work. But my mum's been a huge Alan Cumming fan since reading his memoirs, so a chance to see a rare London stage appearance from him made a good Christmas present; plus I know people who were coming all the way from America to see Daniel Radcliffe, so Richard Jones' double bill got added to my calendar. It opens with the short play Rough for Theatre II, in which C (Jackson Milner) is a silhouette standing on the sill of the window he's about to jump out of. A (Radcliffe) and B (Cumming) are a pair of bureaucrats - possibly in C's own mind - going through paperwork full of evidence that will determine whether or not he'll go through with it.

In this opener Radcliffe is the calm, disapassionate one who largely stays in his place, a bit irritated by his colleague's more jittery personality, with Cumming the one who's nervously pacing the room and worrying about everything from abstract concepts to whether they'll catch their train home once the job is done.

For the main event these roles are reversed, with Cumming as Hamm, pinned to his seat while Radcliffe as his servant Clov frantically limps around the large basement room his master is confined to. Hamm is blind, Clov has difficulty walking; Hamm can't stand up, Clov can't sit down. Outside the world has ended, and inside the room Hamm's life is coming to a close as well, and his long monologues show his conflict over both looking forward to his miserable life ending, and being terrified of death. This is Endgame, a play perhaps best known for the supporting characters of Hamm's ancient parents who live in dustbins (metal wheelie bins in Stewart Laing's design.) Karl Johnson plays Nagg with a real weariness to his absurdity, while Jane Horrocks sports some impressive ageing makeup as Nell, as long as you don't blink - it feels a waste to have her in such a brief role.

As Beckett productions go this kept my attention more than most - both plays have a few good moments of bleak humour and some memorable lines - and the performances are strong, with Cumming impressing in the enforced stillness that puts all the power into his roles, while Radcliffe gets the more physical role in the background with a hint of vaudeville comedy. But my usual issue with Beckett remains - I don't have anything against mystery and complexity but his work never makes me care enough to try and unravel it, and I just end up bored. In the case of Endgame, with its themes bringing one man's death together with the end of the world, there was also the problem of me comparing it to the similar premise of Exit the King, which I found heartbreaking in the best way, and it just couldn't help but come up short. Still, as a present for my mum the gamble paid off - she loved Cumming's performance enough to make her enjoy the show as a whole, although even she said "Beckett's quite dark, isn't he?" YES MUM, JUST A BIT.

Endgame / Rough for Theatre II by Samuel Beckett is booking until the 28th of March at the Old Vic.

Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes including interval

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.