Beckettian
Samuel Beckett The term "Beckettian" is linked with the work of the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett (1906-1989). He specialised in dramas that are bleakly absurd and existentially comic - plays such as "Waiting for Godot", "Endgame", "Happy Days" and "Krapp's Last Tape". I first encountered his work when I was at university in the mid-seventies. Back then, Beckett enjoyed something of a cult following. There was no other dramatist quite like him but of course he's not everybody's cup of tea because he challenges you, makes you think and makes you wonder what it's all about. And now for something very Beckettian. It concerns a visit I made today to the residence of an old friend. He lives there with the wife he left forty years ago and one of his grown up sons who has become a full time carer for his parents. Let's call the old man Frank, his 86 year old wife Betty and their fifty one year old son Peter. Frank is in ...