ENDGAME
Reviewed by Martín Hernández
City Garage
Through April 10
Recommended
“Nothing is funnier than unhappiness.” This line from Samuel Beckett’s grim yet witty one-act, a classic of the existentialist “Theatre of the Absurd” canon, may best sum up the playwright’s bleak philosophy. Laughter at those less happy than us – at least for now – may be our only solace in the face of the inevitable. What with the pandemic and Putin, what better way to spend an evening?
With the play’s post-apocalyptic milieu, we are introduced to our co-dependent quartet; the elderly and blind Hamm (Bo Roberts) stuck in a caster-equipped armchair due to incapacitated limbs – “I can’t stand,” he laments; Hamm’s browbeaten servant Clov (Troy Dunn), in frantic and limping motion – “I can’t sit,” is his malady; and Hamm’s even older and parents Nagg (Andy Kallok) and Nell (Martha Duncan), who can neither stand nor sit, as both are legless and ensconced in metal trash cans.
Deciphering Beckett’s cryptic banter and symbolism is half the creepy fun, with allusions to a mysterious calamity that has annihilated the rest of the world and keeps the characters sequestered. Listen carefully, though, and the vague may get clearer. Hamm and Clov have a troubled bond, a metaphoric – or maybe literal – father and son tug-of-war, what with Hamm’s badgering then consoling of Clov, and vice versa, and Clov’s threats of leaving, a decision fraught with peril for all. Meanwhile, Nagg and Nell are still sweet on each other – cooing with endearments and longing to kiss despite their separation – or maybe because of it.
Director Frédérique Michel has a knack for comic timing, exemplified with Clov’s business with sundry props and the characters’ flippant comments, some of which Beckett uses to teasingly suggest that his characters are in on the bizarre gag. And the ensemble is well matched for its depiction of a dysfunctional family – and world – on its last – whether missing, useless, or damaged – legs.
City Garage at Bergamot Station, 2525 Michigan Ave., Building T1, Santa Monica; Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 4 pm; thru April 10. www.citygarage.org
