In a world-first, actor Samuel West (son of equally acclaimed actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales) has been cast in a performance of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape for a season premiering in 2036. Beckett’s extraordinary oeuvre, particularly Waiting for Godot, is a central piece of the Western theatrical canon. The Irish writer’s prolific works are the subject of the Beckett Biennale, which will premiere next year. But West has been cast for the festival’s sixth outing, more than a decade away, for a performance he’s already partially completed.
Krapp’s Last Tape is one of Beckett’s most popular works. It centres on the character Krapp, who, at the age of 69, listens to a recording he made on his 39th birthday. In most productions, the 39-year-old version of Krapp is played from a reel-to-reel tape machine.
In 2006, West, who was then 39, had the extraordinary opportunity to record the younger half of the play. It means that when West performs the work in 2036, he can do so with an authentic age gap. As far as anyone knows, it’ll be the first time this has been achieved with such precision.
The actor recorded himself under the acclaimed direction of Katie Mitchell. “I last listened to it a few weeks after making it and immediately thought I could do better,” West told The Guardian. “I went back to the director and said, ‘I want to re-record them,’ and she, very properly, said, ‘You can’t. That’s the whole point’.”
Other productions have attempted to accurately portray the age gap at the heart of the play. This includes actor Stephen Rea, who will star in an acclaimed production visiting the Adelaide Festival in Australia at the end of this month. While the age gap is not as precise as the upcoming 2036 version, Rea also had the foresight to record himself as a younger actor.
The first Beckett Biennale will premiere in July 2026 in Enniskillen, Northern Island. It marks a transition from the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival, last staged in 2022.
Extremely early bird tickets go on sale for the 2036 production on 13 April, Beckett’s birthday. Further information on the Adelaide Festival version.
