The San Quentin Drama Workshop trades on its experiences of working with Samuel Beckett in this patchy triple-bill. Stirrings Still is a makeweight: not performed, but played on audio tape while the audience looks at a single slide of the author. Eh Joe was written for television: the visual impact derived entirely from camera moves. It is performed here with precise minimalism (every single blink counts), but even old Sam put in more action than this. It is Ohio Impromptu that most fully shows off Rick Cluchey and Bud Thorpe's capabilities. Each move is deliberate and powerful, and the narration a sonorous and cheekily accurate impersonation of Beckett actor supreme, the late Patrick Magee. A more thoughtfully compiled programme would have been stunning.
Written for The Independent.
Copyright © Ian Shuttleworth; all rights reserved.
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