Happy Days

Happy Days: Samuel Beckett
Arts Theatre, London Tkts 020 7836 3334
Running Time: 90 minutes
Review: Heather Neill

Stunning performance: Beckett's searing comment and dark comedy beautifully presented
Felicity Kendal's celebrated winsomeness does not detract from her stunning performance as Winnie in Peter Hall's haunting production. Beckett's heroine, up to her waist and then her neck in earth, bravely attempts to keep up standards of cleanliness and propriety as her freedom diminishes and her faculties fade. She could be any woman fearing loss of control, of life, of companionship. But, given Kendal's attributes, she is especially touching as a pretty woman whose physical charms are fading. If women past their prime claim they 'disappear', here is someone literally doing just that. Plucky she may be, but despair is just over her limited horizon.

This is a searing, but (typically of Beckett) often comic, recognition of human mortality, with Kendal ably supported by Col Farrell in the thankless role of the unhygienic Willie. Movement is, of necessity restricted, so Willie's painful expedition round to the front of the set and into Winnie¹s line of vision is a momentous event.

And what a set. Winnie is trapped in the middle of a curl of turf, rather like a long strip of apple peel, designed by Lucy Hall. This gives Kendal greater height, a better vantage point between stage and flies, and it provides the audience with a more interesting picture than the usual mound of earth.

Cast
Winnie Felicity Kendal
Willie Col Farrell

Director: Peter Hall
Designer: Lucy Hall

2003-12-05 20:37:47