
Endgame (Endspiel)
by Samuel Beckett
German translation by Elmar Tophoven
#Love-hate #hope
Right from the very beginning Clov, in his monotone voice, announces to the blind and immobilised Hamm: "“Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished." Yet both of them carry on, playing their ritualised game according to precisely laid-down rules. Specific memories from their past are intertwined with the present-day jibes of these characters who are bound together by love and hate. They are trapped in a mythical order from which there is no escape. How do you play endgames when the game is already over?
In the play he wrote in 1956, during a period of post-war optimism and reconstruction in Europe, Beckett demonstrates the manipulability of historical discourse, and the irreconcilable differences between it and real history. The outside world appears to be dead; however as long as people are still acting on stage, in theatre and in life, they must keep on living – assuming one doesn’t stoically and inconsequentially characterise life itself as dying. Beckett uses gallows humour and is, as a genuine clown, to be taken seriously – even if the notion of what is serious and what is amusing doesn’t follow the traditional concepts.
Under the direction of Jan Bosse, Ulrich Matthes as Hamm and Wolfram Koch as Clov demonstrate Beckett’s ironic resistance in circumstances which appear hopeless.
#Love-hate #hope
Right from the very beginning Clov, in his monotone voice, announces to the blind and immobilised Hamm: "“Finished, it's finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished." Yet both of them carry on, playing their ritualised game according to precisely laid-down rules. Specific memories from their past are intertwined with the present-day jibes of these characters who are bound together by love and hate. They are trapped in a mythical order from which there is no escape. How do you play endgames when the game is already over?
In the play he wrote in 1956, during a period of post-war optimism and reconstruction in Europe, Beckett demonstrates the manipulability of historical discourse, and the irreconcilable differences between it and real history. The outside world appears to be dead; however as long as people are still acting on stage, in theatre and in life, they must keep on living – assuming one doesn’t stoically and inconsequentially characterise life itself as dying. Beckett uses gallows humour and is, as a genuine clown, to be taken seriously – even if the notion of what is serious and what is amusing doesn’t follow the traditional concepts.
Under the direction of Jan Bosse, Ulrich Matthes as Hamm and Wolfram Koch as Clov demonstrate Beckett’s ironic resistance in circumstances which appear hopeless.
Premiere June 2, 2007
Wolfram Koch

Ulrich Matthes

What's on
DT Kontext: Talk and Discussion
Der Traum ist aus? Zur Geschichte und Gegenwart utopischen Denkens
guest:Tobias Brück (Journalist)
Rangfoyer
17.00 - 18.00
With English surtitles
Weltall Erde Mensch
An improbable journey by Alexander Eisenach and Ensemble
Director: Alexander Eisenach
DT Bühne
18.00 - 21.40
Performance has been cancelled
Revival
Director: Jessica Weisskirchen
Box
19.00
Revival
A DT Jung* Production
In the Hall of Mirrors (Im Spiegelsaal)
Director: Katharina Bill
Box
19:00 - 20:35
Revival
Director: Hanna Rudolph
Kammer
19.30 - 20.45