Review
Beckett Shorts
New York Theatre Workshop
January 6, 2008
Morgan Wycks
mwycks@nyconstage.org
What might have seemed a stroke of genius on the part of Joanne Akalaitis backfires in ways not immediately apparent in Beckett Shorts. Starring, if that's a term that can be used with anything relating to the master of dramatic existentialism, Mikhail Baryshnikov in four of the playwright's short pieces, one might think what perfect casting. After all, there's so much about the physical as it pertains to Mr. Beckett that a famous ballet artist whose prime years are far behind him just might bring the right element of hopelessness while examining the human condition.
The four plays have Mr. Baryshnikov in the following situations: being constantly thrust onto the stage as he tries to escape it and discovering anything he might want just out of his reach no matter what objects could help him to achieve his goal; sharing the daily rituals of life made oblivious by those very rituals with other common men (David Neumann) in the same situation; as a blind violinist sparring with a wheelchair-bound misanthrope (played by Bill Camp who just appeared as that Moliere titular character on the same stage); and hearing his life spat at him by a disconnected voice (Karen Kandel) while he sits on a bed in no man's land. The problem with Mr. Baryshnikov in these Beckett landscapes is that he looks great. The march of time has barely touched him. Not only does he seem as physically adept as ever but in the final piece we are given his image live on screen in giant close-up where the lines on his face only increase his beauty instead of diminishing it. For plays by a writer whose main themes include inevitable aging, decay and death, Mr. Baryshnikov inadvertently undermines the message giving one hope for eternal life.
These "shorts" in and of themselves are merely points of interest on the developmental graph of Beckett's genius. How informative to see where the seeds of "Endgame", "Happy Days", and "Krapp's Last Tape" originated. The most fascinating element that Ms. Akalaitis brings to this quartet is the contemporary take on the proceedings. Mixing a typical Beckett set (Alexander Brodsky), a dry airless beach, with the superimposition of video images (Mirit Tal) and soundscapes (Darron L. West with Philip Glass' music) brings us into the 21st century. Indeed, the human race may be living for longer stretches of time but still there is going to be an end, except for perhaps Mr. Baryshnikov.
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