Endgame

Today I photographed two dress rehearsals in Corpus Playroom back to back. First out was Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, and directed by Sam Fulton. Declan Amphlett and Alice Carlill were old people without legs in dustbins, and as such they needed to be grey and powdery so I joined them in the dressing room for a pre-dress photo session.

From Camdram:

In the hilariously tragic confines of one small room in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, four people are waiting for the end to come. Hamm presides over all, blind and chair-bound, while his degenerating servant Clov tends to the pointless tasks that make up their routine and define their existence.Within two dustbins live the cripples Nagg and Nell, Hamm’s parents, completing one of the most bizarre quartets in theatre.

Bleak monotony, cutting wit, physical comedy and profound insights into human life merge together in this fantastic picture of the ending process. Tears and laughter are mutually dependent, a combination best summarised, as is the play itself, by Nell: ‘Nothing is funnier than unhappiness’. Probing the darkest depths of what it means to be human, Beckett’s Endgame is a comic exposition of all our hopes and fears in the face of death.

Reviews: Varsity (4/5 stars), The Cambridge Student (9/10), The Tab (4.5/5)

Cast
Hamm – Tim Atkin
Clov – Seth
Nagg – Declan Amphlett
Nell – Alice Carlill

Production Team
Director – Sam Fulton
Producer – Louisa Dales
Publicity Designer – Nicole Ng
Costume Designer – Jessie Mathewson
Light Designer – Sasha Amaya
Stage Manager – Lewis Scott
Cinematographer – Patrick Brooks
Set Designer – Nicole Ng
Photographer – Johannes Hjorth