Endgame brings together two important dramatic works by Samuel Beckett: Endgame, a one-act play, and Act Without Words I, a mime for one player. Endgame is set in a bleak, enclosed world inhabited by Hamm, who is blind and unable to stand, his servant and companion Clov, who cannot sit down, and Hamm's elderly parents Nagg and Nell, who live in separate bins. Through repetitive routines, fragmented conversations, dependence and conflict, Beckett explores mortality, isolation, power, memory and the apparent meaninglessness of human existence. The characters seem trapped in a world that is approaching its end, yet they continue the rituals and relationships that bind them together. Act Without Words I dispenses entirely with spoken language and presents a solitary figure confronted with objects and possibilities that repeatedly remain beyond his reach. Both works are characteristic examples of Beckett's minimalist dramatic style, combining existential themes, bleak comedy, repetition and the conventions of the Theatre of the Absurd.

Samuel Beckett

Endgame. A play in one Act followed by Act without words. A mime for one player