NE actors normal, deranged in Samuel Beckett

By Terry Webster/ne news editor

The Shorter Works of Samuel Beckett is a series of individual plays that magnify everyday life to show how it is both mundane and absurd, according to cast members in the NE Campus production that runs Dec. 1-4.Each short play is a scene that will require audience members to use their imaginations and draw on their life experiences and observations to decide what is happening.

“Some people will get it right away, and others will walk away thinking, ‘What was that?’” said student Michael Spencer, who plays Krapp in “Krapp’s Last Tape,” a piece about an old man listening to a reel-to-reel tape recording of when he was younger. “We believe everyone will walk away feeling entertained even if they weren’t quite sure what was happening.”

Another piece — “Play” — shows three characters standing in neck-high urns and jabbering about a husband’s affair with another woman.

The characters in “Play” are all stuck inside a soundtrack of the emotions and events related to the affair.

“They’re all in limbo,” said student Felicia Taylor, who plays the character Woman 2. 

“Play” is challenging because the actors can use only their voices and facial expressions to tell the story, said student Roxy Astermborski, who plays Woman 1.

“An Act Without Words” uses only movement and facial expressions to tell the story of an interaction between two homeless men simply named A and B.

Beckett’s writing is often associated with a style called “theater of the absurd,” said Julie Gale, a drama instructor and the play’s director. The style combines elements of Vaudeville with situations that are often tragic, she said.

Beckett’s plays often present the view that life is repetitive or meaningless, she said.

Performances are 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday with a 2 p.m. show Saturday in the NFAB Theatre.

Tickets are $6 for general admission, $3 for seniors and non-TCC students and free for TCC students, faculty and staff.

For reservations, call 817-515-6687.