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Firstly, let me say that I am a huge admirer of Samuel Beckett, but that you’ll have to decide for yourself whether that might make me harsher or more generous with my criticism. I was incredibly excited to learn that a production of Fragments would be touring and even more so to find out that the legendary director Peter Brook (Peter Brook!) would be at the helm. 

I was not disappointed. The first piece of the ensemble is Rough for Theatre I, a short fragment surrounding two beggars, one blind, one crippled, in what might be the aftermath of a nuclear winter, who consider the possibility of joining forces to survive. Played superbly by Spanish actors César Sarachu and Antonio Gil Martinez, the men are pitch-perfect and well synchronised. This material has to be treated carefully, I think, because as with all Beckett’s work, there is only a hair’s breadth between humour and despair and these two are right on the money; hilarious and sad and overwhelmingly human. 

Beckett’s work is always unflinching and these are characters who will ask the painful questions: at one point, for instance, one of them asks the other sincerely and succinctly why he doesn’t kill himself. Further to that we see how close we are to violence at any time even as the two swing between affection and aggression in a matter of moments. 

On a bare set that seems to be both anywhere and nowhere, it’s easy to see Sarachu and Martinez as old souls, in both the physical and theoretical senses, and as universal symbols and familiar animals. They are dirty and dejected, irrevocably flawed, a little bit repulsive and a little bit beautiful, and you love them easily.

The next piece is Rockaby, first performed by Beckett muse/collaborator Billie Whitelaw in 1981, and in this production executed by English actress Hayley Carmichael. It concerns a woman at the end of her life contemplating her existence while rocking in a rocking chair. Differing from the original, which employed a voice-over, Carmichael, in plain clothing and simulating the rocking chair, performs the piece live, making what is meant as an inner, into an outer monologue, a challenge I think requiring a high degree of subtlety and control from the actor. Additionally, Beckett uses anaphora to its extreme and as such, an imprecise rendition can equal instant bathos. Here, Carmichael delivers with restraint, creating palpable empathy. I really wish she was wearing the elaborate evening dress of the original, though, and am not certain why she was not. I think it would have better served the anachronism of the character and the nostalgia of the piece.

Next up is Act Without Words II, a mime involving two characters, almost clowns, apparently residing in sacks. Alternately, a prod drops from the rafters, jabbing each character into action.  As each emerges from his sack he performs essentially the same routine, waking, dressing, traveling a short distance, then re-entering the sack and going back to sleep. 

The first, played by Martinez, is pained, uncoordinated and hopeless, the second, Sarachu, is upbeat, fluid and happy. It’s hard to describe the action in such a way as to do it justice, but it showcases the physicality of the two performers well, and again, even though you don’t really know who they are or where they are, you do recognise them. They are Beckett’s eternally familiar human animals and without even words the rawness of this portrayal of hope and despair is very funny, and quite lovely.

The poem Neither and the last fragment Come and Go follow to round out the collection. Neither, performed by Carmichael in the same black attire she wore for Rockaby, contains the opening line “to and fro” - much repeated in the earlier piece and the audience titters here, having been reminded of the previous fragment. This is unfortunate because it undoes a little bit of the finality of Rockaby – we just watched that woman die, didn’t we? – and therefore it inadvertently lessens the pathos, if only momentarily. Aside from this, the piece is well-executed and Beckett’s poetry is pithy and strong.

I like Come and Go immensely. It is very funny and this production has Sarachu ad Martinez playing women in a way I enjoy – reminiscent of Monty Python of all things – because it makes no gender statements at all. However, I felt the piece might not have been strong enough to provide a suitably significant closing for the compilation. I tend to think it was just that bit too light, and that it might have been better placed, perhaps, before Rockaby.

Overall, I really enjoyed this production and it was certainly a treat to see such rarely performed work. At only 60 minutes in duration, however, it did leave me wishing for another hour to spend with Carmichael, Martinez and Sarachu, and the inimitable Mr Beckett.


Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
Fragments
By Samuel Beckett

Director Peter Brook

Venue: Octagon Theatre, UWA
When: Sat 14 & Sun 15 Feb, 7.30pm
Tue 17–Sat 21 Feb, 7.30pm
Tue 24 & Wed 25 Feb, 7.30pm
Sun 15, Sat 21 & Sun 22 Feb, 2pm
Duration: 1hr no interval
Prices: A Reserve $60/Friends $50 B Reserve $45/Conc $40 C Reserve $35
Bookings: 9484 1133 perthfestival.com.au Festival Info 6488 5555