Endgame

The title Endgame has been used in South Africa for a 1957 play by Samuel Beckett and for a 2009 film about the negotiations between the Nationalist Government and the ANC.

Endgame, the play (1957)

Endgame, by Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) [1], is a one-act play with four characters, written in a style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. It was originally written in French (entitled Fin de partie); as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the Royal Court Theatre in London, opening on 3 April 1957. It is commonly considered, along with such works as Waiting for Godot, to be among Beckett's most important works.

Performance history in South Africa

1968: Staged by CAPAB in the Hofmeyr Theatre as part of its lunchtime theatre programme.

1974: Performed at the University of Cape Town, directed by Craig Curtis.

1976: A multiracial version was done at The Space (Cape Town) opening 10 September, directed by Dimitri Nicolas-Fanourakis with Bill Curry, Keith Grenville, Chris Galloway and Molly Thompson. Designed by John Nankin and Adrian Kohler, stage managed by Tony Scholtz and Totti Ebrahim. Not well attended, possibly because of the riots and the fact that audiences may not have wanted to be reminded of the situation in the country.

1987: CAPAB October/November, Nico Arena, as double bill with Krapp's Last Tape.

1994: Staged by Asoka Theatre, directed by Shaun Gray, with himself (Hamm), Richard Sivil (Clov), David Wright (Nagg) and Loshani Naidu (Nell).

1997: Staged in The Laager, at the Market Theatre, 11 February - 22 March 1997, starring Vanessa Cooke, Lionel Newton, Gerrit Schoonhoven and Andrew Buckland, directed by Lara Foot Newton.

2010: Performed at the Intimate Theatre, Cape Town, in August 2010, directed by Luke Ellenbogen starring Guy de Lancey, Adrian Collins, Nicholas Ellenbogen and Liz Szymczak.

2018: A production presented at the Baxter Theatre from 10 to 25 August is directed by Sylvaine Strike starring Andrew Buckland, Rob van Vuuren, Antoinette Kellermann and Soli Philander as "Nagg".

Sources

Wikipedia [2].

Teater SA, 1(1), 1968.

Theatre programme (The Space, 1976).

Astbury 1979.

Asoka Theatre programme, 1994.

Ruphin Coudyzer. 2023. Annotated list of his photographs of Market Theatre productions. (Provided by Coudyzer)

Petru & Carel Trichardt theatre programme collection.

Folder containing press reviews relating to the 1997 production held by NELM: [Collection: MARKET THEATRE]: 2007. 10. 10. 42. 5.

Cape Times 24 Aug 2010.

Die Burger, 21 July 2018.

Endgame the film (2008)

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