Endgame — shake & stir theatre co

Overview

They've brought their distinctive sensibilities to new theatre adaptations of Animal Farm, 1984, Wuthering Heights and Dracula. Now, shake & stir theatre co has set their sights on another classic: Samuel Beckett's Endgame.

If it sounds familiar, that's because the play pops up quite frequently (both Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company staged versions last year, the latter starring Hugo Weaving, in fact). There's clearly something about the Irish dramatist's tale of lost souls contemplating their impending end that strikes a chord. Maybe it's the existential musings — or the combination of ridiculousness and resonance?

Either way, director Michael Futcher and a cast that includes Leon Cain, Robert Coleby, Jennifer Flowers and John McNeill will explore the possibilities of the end that awaits us all. It's as bleak as it is brilliantly amusing, because, as Beckett himself noted, "nothing is funnier than unhappiness".