reviewvancouver: Krapp´s Last Tape

Seven Tyrants Theatre
Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett

Dates and Venue October 5 - 26, 2018, Tues – Fri @ 8pm, Saturdays @ 4pm,Sundays @ 7pm | Tyrant Studios, 1019 Seymour Street (above Penthouse Nightclub)

I like this play because like some old folks, I identify myself with Krapp who gives us crap (trying to be punny) from his old days, reminiscing on a past lover and other stuff, poetic and otherwise.

Some have diaries, but in the case of this ol´ fellow, he has his diaries all taped. After listening to his own voice when he was 39 in a lonely dark room, he decides to record again, perhaps his last tape recording. But he´s unhappy with it and throws it away.

This is a one-man show, around an hour long, starring Linden Banks as Krapp. Banks did a good job, emoting anger, sadness and nostalgia as he listens to his tape. David Thomas Newham, the play´s director, was born in Dublin and says in the programme notes that he developed an interest in Beckett at a young age. He also mentions that he might perhaps be distantly related to him.

I also spoke to one of the artistic producers, Jessie Award Winner Daniel Doerksen who also is the play´s sound designer, and he said that the attic of the Penthouse was renovated by the company and is, for now, its semi-permanent residence. Of course, only plays with at most four actors can act in this space that seats only around 50 in the audience.