Review: KRAPP’S LAST TAPE

by Lynn on October 14, 2018

in The Passionate Playgoer

At Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, Toronto, Ont.

Written by Samuel Beckett

Directed by Mac Fyfe

Set and lighting by Chris Clifford

Sound by Andrew Dollar

Costume by Angela Thomas

Cast: Bob Nasmith

A remount as good as when this production first played earlier in the year.

The Story. A man reviews his life playing the tapes he recorded marking key events. And he eats bananas in the process.

The Production. This delicate, thoughtful, moving production played earlier in the year to great acclaim and has been remounted for those who missed it. Mac Fyfe directs with care and attention to detail. Time is spent watching. Krapp gets an idea. He takes a set of keys out of his pocked. He goes to his desk and opens a drawer and takes out a spool of tape to put on the tape machine. He also takes out a banana, looks at it, ponders, easily peels it, throws the peel on the ground,  then places one end of the banana in his mouth and stands there thinking. He bites down on the banana. He walks to the side of the desk sliding on the banana skin. This recounts the humiliations of everyday life that trip us up even in the simplest of things.

Bob Nasmith as Krapp, is white-faced, toothless and compulsive as he listens to his tapes documenting even the most mundane things in his earlier life.  Sometimes there is sweet regret as he recalls a lost love. Sometimes he is aghast at his pretentious younger self. It is the life of lost opportunities, emotional connections that were disconnected that weigh on him resulting in his solitary life.

Comment. Samuel Beckett’s play is so full of sly detail, hidden heartache and why Krapp is alone and forgotten. Mac Fyfe realizes all of it in his sensitive direction and Bob Nasmith’s frail but resilient Krapp illuminates one of Beckett’s towering characters. Don’t let this production pass you by.

Singing Swan Productions with the generous support of Theatre Passe Muraille and VideoCabaret presents:

Opened: Oct. 4, 2018.

Closes: Oct. 21, 2018.

Running Time: 45 minutes.

www.passemuraille.ca

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