Not to be too pedantic, but Fail Better, by UMO Ensemble at ACT Theatre, is also part of the Beckett Festival, opens tomorrow night (the 13th), and closes on the 23rd. Given that, is it accurate to say that this production "closes" the Festival?

Also, isn't that picture from Blood Countess at Annex?

Pic fixed now! I figured the fact that you had a Blood Countess pic meant that review was coming.

When we attended this dual production tonight, the thing called NDGM, all 1h 15m of it, was first, to be followed by Endgame.... contrary to all implications in the advertising, which listed Endgame first, except the one above with prequel.



However, this thing called NDGM is so unbelievably terrible, trite, gratuitously violent and stupid that we had to give up seeing one of our favorite plays. We had to leave and give up Endgame. Our entire theatre existence had to be given a break that will take long to heal.



As a Beckett lover for decades, I was shocked to see this sort of product produced in the same evening. I feel sorry for the actors of Endgame. They must be shocked with embarrassment. Arriving back home, i read in the program from the director of this thing (Emily Harvey) "...this is us thumbing our nose at Beckett." Well you have done far more than that, you have thumbed your nose at good taste and creativity, and made it just that much harder for small theatre groups to succeed.



The organizers of the Beckett Festival should be ashamed of themselves for letting this inexcusably awful thing be produced in the same evening of a Beckett play. After 30 years of theatre including very many struggling small company productions, I now have a never to be defeated worst ever theatre experience.... as do the three other folks that accompanied me. There was not a single intelligent or engaging line of text in the entire production, but indeed mostly stupid dialog and antics... they give absurd a bad name. There was not the faintest fart of Beckett in this disaster. (Malloy could fart 300 times a day).



So my recommendation is, call the theatre to confirm that Endgame is second, then ask what time it starts and show up then.

actually... it Molloy. so upset i can't even write.

@4 I too came and saw this production expecting to see Endgame first, and while I was more a fan of Endgame then NDGM, I deeply appreciated the fact that this company put NDGM first because I don't think I would have seen a show of this unique stripe without the extra push. To say that the Beckett fest should be ashamed to produce this is a vile and gross statement.



I suppose this is a result of Beckett being accepted as canon, but I imagine the response of those who were of the aging generation when Beckett was first produced would have had similar, if not the same, responses to his work being staged. Are we so boring as a culture that we can't accept the new experimentations produced right now in favor of something that was decidedly experimental in its own time?



What a short sighted comment by a clearly short sighted individual.



As far as a review goes, was NDGM perfect? No, but it was trying something different and unique and not rooted in as traditional a method as much of what is being produced here and elsewhere. It may have been a little longer than it should have been, but Beckett is no stranger to lengthy text, even endgame, as a one act, stretches the boundaries of comfortable length.



I would take your comments more seriously if they were presented in the spirit of this production as a whole, brimming with ideas, lacking judgment and open to interpretation.