Endgame

The curtain of the Sumner stage is a solid concrete wall, sealing the occupants inside. With a fade to black the wall disappears and the audience is presented with a semi-circular bunker with tiny windows and drab grey walls. Clov (Luke Mullins) serves the invalid Hamm (Colin Friels) and the hopeless Nagg (Rhys McConnochie) and Nell (Julie Forsyth) provide comic relief from two barrels on the side of the stage. There is no affection, no hope and no love, only fading nostalgia and infuriating routine. Everyone is there because they have nowhere else to go. Mullins’ performance is solid if not reserved yet Friels struggles to connect with the audience and reverts to yelling to maintain energy. Forsyth’s cameo steals the show. Paul Jackson’s lighting design is inspired with an indistinguishable transformation from day to night throughout the course of the play.

The work is funny yet off-putting as the humour is created by rejoicing in the characters’ misery and obliviousness. This is understood by the production who declare in the program: “…ignorance is the common attribute of the characters. No one knows what is going on”. However, this statement could easily be applied to the audience as well. Endgame is well crafted and well executed, however the content of the play is as dreary as the bunker’s walls.