So, I was having trouble relating everything I've read about Beckett, and learned from studying his life and the context of his works to making any kind of *sense* of Krapp's Last Tape when I read it. Then I was reading posts from other students about repetition in Beckett and how it is alarming because it can be so illuminative, and still I just wasn't making sense of what I read in Krapp's Last Tape; it was all very much just words on a page for me. But Zac's interview made me think of some things that I did get out of Beckett and the Krapp script and just hadn’t picked up on in other people’s posts.
Krapp's audio journals, his logs of his life, he used them to reflect back on his life and see what, if anything, he had learned over its course so far...Zac's answer to the question of what message from himself, to himself, would he like to look back and see or hear in 50 years, after the manner of Krapp, did two things for me. One, I think his answer of basically telling himself to just go and do what he dreams of doing and follow his wishes and whims without stressing over whether the consequences will be wonderfully remarkable or remarkably regrettable, serve as a strong remind for me, and hopefully for anyone who hears his interview, to do just that. His answer is a instruction to focus on pursuing your joy, and not waste time regretting things that turn out differently from how you hoped -- EVERYTHING which happens in your life can be a lesson learned if you examine it as objectively and thoroughly as you can, even if that's a long process which comes from growing confident and comfortable with your choices. "Just do it" can be the attitude of trusting that you know what is best for yourself, and if it turns out you were wrong, there's probably something hiding under the surface for you to grow from. The other thing Zac's remarks did was they reminded of an "assignment" someone gave me during a difficult period in my life (one I've put off and put off and should really try someday). It was sort of the reverse of Krapp's recordings, but I feel it connected back to Zac's answer. The gist of it was to write myself a letter, from 15-20 years into the future back to my present self, telling myself how things had turned out for the better, how different situations were resolved, etc. Foresight not being the '20/20' of hindsight, and being a tool many people choose to utilize as infrequently as possible, I think Krapp, the character, may have been onto something in recording (journaling) so meticulously his life, so that he could look back on it and, hopefully, find areas of growth and change. For all the audience knows, the character's intention in all of this could have been to leave those tapes as his legacy to the world in the hopes that someone else could benefit from his experiences, mistakes, and triumphs -- not unlike many bloggers and users of livejournal or other online communities you find.
Another thing I found of interest in Zac's answers was the way he described Beckett's writing style; it was something brought up by a lesson one of his teacher's taught him (around 4:43 in the interview), and it had to do with Beckett’s scripts. Zac cited how deliberate Beckett was in his writing, his use of punctuation ("especially ellipses"), his way of telling the players exactly what he wanted and what is crucial, yet leaving just enough room for interpretation and innovation that actors are able to plug in some details for themselves. As a writer who sometimes dabbles in playwriting, I found this to be a very intriguing notion. I'm so accustomed to hearing people coach writers for the stage (and especially for the screen), not to be so specific with the stage instructions and notes on line delivery and demands for scenery, because that leaves nothing to the imagination of the cast or for the interpretation of the director. Yet, Beckett became a hugely successful playwright doing just that. Sam Beckett told us exactly what to do and how to do it and how it will look while it happens in his scripts, and we somehow come out all the richer for it.
2 comments:
Nuh-uh! Is he eating a banana?
Yeah, the banana was a fun touch.
So, I was having trouble relating everything I've read about Beckett, and learned from studying his life and the context of his works to making any kind of *sense* of Krapp's Last Tape when I read it. Then I was reading posts from other students about repetition in Beckett and how it is alarming because it can be so illuminative, and still I just wasn't making sense of what I read in Krapp's Last Tape; it was all very much just words on a page for me. But Zac's interview made me think of some things that I did get out of Beckett and the Krapp script and just hadn’t picked up on in other people’s posts.
Krapp's audio journals, his logs of his life, he used them to reflect back on his life and see what, if anything, he had learned over its course so far...Zac's answer to the question of what message from himself, to himself, would he like to look back and see or hear in 50 years, after the manner of Krapp, did two things for me.
One, I think his answer of basically telling himself to just go and do what he dreams of doing and follow his wishes and whims without stressing over whether the consequences will be wonderfully remarkable or remarkably regrettable, serve as a strong remind for me, and hopefully for anyone who hears his interview, to do just that. His answer is a instruction to focus on pursuing your joy, and not waste time regretting things that turn out differently from how you hoped -- EVERYTHING which happens in your life can be a lesson learned if you examine it as objectively and thoroughly as you can, even if that's a long process which comes from growing confident and comfortable with your choices. "Just do it" can be the attitude of trusting that you know what is best for yourself, and if it turns out you were wrong, there's probably something hiding under the surface for you to grow from.
The other thing Zac's remarks did was they reminded of an "assignment" someone gave me during a difficult period in my life (one I've put off and put off and should really try someday). It was sort of the reverse of Krapp's recordings, but I feel it connected back to Zac's answer. The gist of it was to write myself a letter, from 15-20 years into the future back to my present self, telling myself how things had turned out for the better, how different situations were resolved, etc. Foresight not being the '20/20' of hindsight, and being a tool many people choose to utilize as infrequently as possible, I think Krapp, the character, may have been onto something in recording (journaling) so meticulously his life, so that he could look back on it and, hopefully, find areas of growth and change.
For all the audience knows, the character's intention in all of this could have been to leave those tapes as his legacy to the world in the hopes that someone else could benefit from his experiences, mistakes, and triumphs -- not unlike many bloggers and users of livejournal or other online communities you find.
Another thing I found of interest in Zac's answers was the way he described Beckett's writing style; it was something brought up by a lesson one of his teacher's taught him (around 4:43 in the interview), and it had to do with Beckett’s scripts. Zac cited how deliberate Beckett was in his writing, his use of punctuation ("especially ellipses"), his way of telling the players exactly what he wanted and what is crucial, yet leaving just enough room for interpretation and innovation that actors are able to plug in some details for themselves.
As a writer who sometimes dabbles in playwriting, I found this to be a very intriguing notion. I'm so accustomed to hearing people coach writers for the stage (and especially for the screen), not to be so specific with the stage instructions and notes on line delivery and demands for scenery, because that leaves nothing to the imagination of the cast or for the interpretation of the director. Yet, Beckett became a hugely successful playwright doing just that. Sam Beckett told us exactly what to do and how to do it and how it will look while it happens in his scripts, and we somehow come out all the richer for it.
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