Why is everyone doing Beckett?

Beckett’s plays are some of the toughest for audiences so why are they flavour of the month in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne this year?
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Samuel Beckett: photo by John Haynes / Rubicon Theatre Company (via www.latimes.com)

The absurdist plays of Irish writer Samuel Beckett seem very much in vogue in Australia this month. Three of his short plays are currently being staged at the State Theatre Centre of WA as part of Perth International Arts Festival, performed by Irish actor Lisa Dwan, while State Theatre Company of South Australia are in the midst of rehearsals for their Beckett Triptych, opening next week as part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts