Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts

We Love Arts: Krapp’s Last Tape

John Hurt in the Gate Theatre’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape. Photo by Tom Lawlor.

There are moments when economy, especially in words, must suffice.

(Shakes head. Backspace, backspace. Types.)

John Hurt. Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett. Produced by Dublin’s Gate Theatre, at Shakespeare Theatre Company this weekend only. 55 minutes.

55 minutes of your life spent watching a master actor perform a master playwright’s reflection on the absurdity of life, memory and regret.

(Shakes head. Backspace, backspace, backspace. Types. Rubs chin. Sighs.)

Words leave me. Just the memory of Hurt’s haggard face under hard white light, the deep black of time surrounding him like a Francis Bacon painting.

Words leave me. To be haunted by a performance you cannot describe… feels liberating, to be defeated by time, by memory.

(Shakes head. Backspace. Stops. Stares at the floor. Mutters, “Idiot.” Types.)

Krapp’s Last Tape in limited engagement through December 4 at Shakespeare Theatre Company, located at 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. Closest Metro stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown (Red/Yellow/Green lines), Archives/Navy Memorial (Yellow/Green lines). For more information call 202-547-1122.