Post a commentI saw Endgame opening night and completely disagree with Toby. This was a perfectly balanced production of a play that is too often performed with no regard to the great range of humour Beckett has written into it. Swidey as Hamm and Greene as Clov offer just the right amount of slapstick and biting sarcasm, and balance it with deep personal need for each other. Exactly what I believe Beckett intended. And, Toby, the two words you note as mispronunciations (bowed and stancher) have more than one pronunciation possibility. I perfectly understood what each of those words meant in the context of two powerful moments as uttered by Swidey and Greene. Perhaps this, like your note about the un-bear set, approaches Beckett with a rigid expectation. It should be noted that, in many of Beckett's plays as they are printed now, it's hard to tell what are his directives and what are mere hold-overs from early productions that made it into the text. I appreciated that Lane Savadove's direction let this great play breathe. The opening night audience was in hysterics at times and deeply moved at others. Again, a balance that so often is lacking in performances of this play. Bravo, Egopo!
correction: I meant "un-bare" not "un-bear", in my previous comment, of course.
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