But apart from that, Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett at the Skirball should not be missed. Irish actor Stephen Rea plays Krapp, who every year on his birthday, records a tape recounting the past year. On his 69th birthday, Krapp looks back on his old tapes. And quite fortuitously, Rea’s version of Krapp’s Last Tape features tapes that the actor himself recorded years ago, in hopes that he would one day play the role of Krapp. He is actually listening to his voice decades younger on the recording.  

Krapp’s Last Tape portrays the extreme loneliness and fragmentation of identity which a man devoid of religious, social, or biological purpose will endure. Sixty-nine-year-old Krapp, despite obvious intellectual and emotional potential, has never experienced more than a momentary sense of fulfillment or peace of mind.  The play has been elegantly stripped down to its essence, so we are left only with memory, regret and the passage of time.  I cannot imagine the play being handled by a more masterful actor or director. The humor and silences that you could never imagine in the play when you read it were wonderful to discover live.  

I only wish I hadn’t been so cheap in buying tickets to this particular show.