THEPRODUCTION

CREATIVETEAM
Finished,itsfinished,nearlyfinished,itmustbenearlyfinished.Thisishowthegame
begins.Nearly,Beckettsays,isoneofthekeywordsinhistexts.Itisnearlyfinished,itis
DieterDorn,Director nearlyallagame,poetry,notaviewoftheworldbutaparodyofone.Gototheextremes,
JrgenRose,SetsandCostumes thenlaughterwillcomeisthepoeticapproachhisworkemploystomakeanaesthetic
successoutoffailure.BeckettcalledwhathewaswritinginMay1956shockinglycruel,
TobiasLffler,Lighting comparedtowhichhisplayWaitingforGodotwaspurejoy.InEndgamethereisnomore
HansJoachimRuckhberle,Dramaturgy waiting,neitherforGodotnorforGod:Thebastard!!Hedoesntexist,saysHammNotyet,
Clovreplies.Thedisasterhasalreadyhappened,Noahandhissonshavesurvived,oneof
themiscalledHam.IfonlytheAlmightyhadntbeensofondofNoah,isBeckettscomment.
CAST Whatremainsisagameaboutendings,clownlike,comic,withatasteforslapstick,yet
decisivelydrivenbytheforcefulpowerofthetext,accordingtoitsauthor.Theplottakes
placeinthelanguage.Thefiguresoftheplayaresearchingforeffectsandmonitoringthem.
NicholasOfczarek,Hamm Theyareveryawarethattheyareacting,thattheyarepartofapieceoftheatre.
MichaelMaertens,Clov
Fourcharacters:Nell,themother,Nagg,thefather,Hamm,theirsonandClov.Possiblythe
JoachimBimeier,Nagg classicservant,possiblyHammsson,inanyeventsomeonewhohasexperiencednothing
otherthannowandwhohastotellhimself,theearthisextinguished,thoughIneversawit
BarbaraPetritsch,Nell lit.Heisrobbedofbothpastandfuture.HispresentishishistorywithHamm.Eventhewords
heusesarenothis.Clovdreamsofsomethingofhisown,itisadreamofleaving.
INFORMATION
Thecharactersaredefective:NellandNaggwithoutlegs,Hammblindandlamed,Clov
unabletositdown.Theplayitselfisdesignedtobeperfect:No,therearenocoincidences
NewproductioninGerman inEndgame,everythingisbuiltonanalogiesandrepetitions,accordingtoBeckettthe
director.Thewholethingisabattleforlove,forcontact,power,foronesownbiography,the
CoproductionwiththeBurgtheaterWien languagetoo.Notasinglemomentofweaknessisforgiven,everyoneisalwaysonthe
lookout,wary,alwaystryingtofindaholeinthedefences,tolandapunch.Theaimofthe
gameistodepart.NellandNaggdisappear,shestaringdeeplyintothevoid,hecursinghis
Durationofperformanceapprox.2hoursand10minutes. son.HammandClovreleaseeachotherwithoutreallyseparating.

Anendandagame.Theendofeverything,ofnature,action,desireandultimatelyspeech,
andthegameplayingwiththepossibilitiesofdeludingoneself,notonlyoneselfbutthe
otherstoo.Whoandwhatismeaningful?Andwhen?Intheend,nothingiscertain,perhaps
thereisjustamadmanlikeHammspeaksofintheplaylookingandpainting,imagesof
theendoftheworldasheseesit.

Beckettlaughsatthefinitenatureoflife,atthecycleofbeginningandendandatthenever
endingqualityoffiction:ThenIwentbackintothehouseandwrote,Itismidnight.Therain
isbeatingonthewindows.Itwasnotmidnight.Itwasnotraining.Thisishowthenovel
MolloyendsEndgameendsthewayitbeganwiththeactorcoveringhisfacewitha
handkerchief.Weregettingon.Nearly.

HansJoachimRuckhberle
(Translation:DavidTushingham)

SamuelBeckettEndgame
NewproductioninGerman
CoproductionwiththeBurgtheaterWien

Durationofperformanceapprox.2hoursand10minutes.

Premiere:
30July,19:30,SalzburgStateTheatre