Beckett Directs Beckett
In 1985 Samuel Beckett directed “Waiting for Godot”, “Krapp’s Last Tape” and “Endgame” as stage pieces with the San Quentin Players. All three productions were grouped together under the overall title “Beckett Directs Beckett.” As such they toured throughout Europe and in some parts of Asia to wide acclaim. Furthermore, each time a new tour was organized for these productions, after sometimes lengthy lacunae, Beckett has, with the assistance of Walter Asmus, and/or Alan Mandell, brought them back to performance level.
Though the initial productions as staged in 1985 already brought forth substantial changes in the published acting texts of the plays, each time a re-mounting of the productions occurred additional changes were made. The same was true during the production period for these television versions, with Beckett sometimes making textual changes on the telephone even as a given scene was being taped. For these productions, it was our intention and design to open them out beyond the confines of the stage in order to accommodate them to the television medium. Walter Asmus and Alan Mandell, both of whom enjoyed the author’s complete confidence, were responsible for this part of the endeavor.
The producers have a contractual obligation to Mr. Beckett that no changes be made in the original Beckett productions. However, as someone who has done a good deal of work on television (unfortunately not well known in the US), Beckett realizes the constraints and demands of that medium, and the many significant differences between television and the stage. In mounting the television versions of these productions, therefore, we worked intimately with Beckett on these questions as they arose.
Furthermore, Beckett asked that the taping take place in Paris so that, as he said, he could keep an eye on things. In short, Beckett’s was the creative vision which moved the whole enterprise. Walter Asmus and Alan Mandell, the nominal television directors for the series, were perfectly content to act as the guarantors for Beckett’s directorial vision.
Nothing here should be taken to suggest that we lay claim to the only possible interpretations of these plays, that Beckett’s is the last word on the subject. On the contrary: we sought, and believe we have succeeded, in establishing not only the last versions of the texts which Beckett revised prior to his death, but also provided bench-marks, points of departure from which present and future theater and television and film artists can explore other interpretations. The programs were aired by PBS in the US and have been seen in many other countries throughout the world.
DOWNLOAD or STREAM from UbuWeb
Beckett Directs Beckett: Waiting for Godot, Part 1 (1985)
Beckett Directs Beckett: Waiting for Godot, Part 2 (1985)
RESOURCES
- Samuel Beckett in UbuWeb Sound
- Samuel Beckett in UbuWeb Film
- Samuel Beckett: Wikipedia Entry
thx for the downloads……
I admire ” Samuel Beckett”
Greetings
Roger……
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Comment by rph janssen — put May 26, 2007 @ 6:12 am
thanks, a great help for my college studies
Comment by aemanon — put December 11, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Thx you very much
Comment by Martin — put January 6, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
Could you please submit some subtitles too? Cause the dialogs are way too fast for me. I don’t understand a thing…:( Thanks!
Comment by adam — put January 19, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
You have provided such a great service! Thanks for the downloads–priceless entertainment.
Comment by Pete — put February 5, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
Thanks for the downloads! Made my day
Comment by grushenka — put April 30, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
this is the single purist digitised gesture of benevolance that I’ve ever come across
Comment by kironoryx — put December 18, 2008 @ 9:56 am
I need a research about samuel beckett’s waiting for godott
Comment by batool — put January 15, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
[…] Samuel Beckett fans look here and rejoice. It may not be DVD quality but, it’s better than no Beckett. […]
Pingback by Harmonies in my head — Notes of a Defeatist — put January 22, 2009 @ 11:12 am
I tried downloading Endgame. It took three hours and after that, it wouldn’t play.
kironoryx: Mind telling me how long it took you, and what happened at the end?
Comment by adam — put January 25, 2009 @ 5:51 am
Thankyou for sharing these.
Comment by lee — put March 3, 2009 @ 4:00 pm
can you make these into torrents?
thx.
Comment by Zap — put June 23, 2009 @ 11:59 pm
Thank you very much for those!! downloaded all of them since I’m going to take a course on Beckett and I wanna have a broader view of his work.
Comment by Mirela — put February 9, 2010 @ 4:49 pm
thank you so very much for posting this–this gesture has enhanced my life
Comment by Erik — put March 8, 2010 @ 9:00 am
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Pingback by Beckett Directs Beckett « Dandi von Pferd — put April 18, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
[…] I managed to secure a free ticket to Waiting for Godot, currently playing at Theatre Royal in Haymarket, thanks to a fellow Twespian. Waiting for Godot holds a special place in my heart, as it was my introduction to absurdism way back in high school. Having studied it at both high shool and university, I’ve seen countless filmed productions and quite a few staged excerpts, mostly by students. As a result, I’ve often found it a largely innaccesible play. Even the Beckett directs Beckett production felt incredibly academic in it’s approach. Even though I love the play, I had written it off as a piece of theatre reserved for actors, directors and academics; a slightly elitist play that would never be popular theatre. […]
Pingback by Review: Waiting for Godot | @lurkmoophy — put June 21, 2010 @ 1:10 pm