Gate Theatre, Dublin Previews Apr 28 Opens Apr 29 8pm 01-8744045

An old man shuffles around a room, grumbling, eating bananas, occasionally popping a cork before consulting reams and reams of tapes. It is his birthday and this is his yearly ritual. The title of Samuel Beckett’s 1958 play, then, speaks volumes. Last staged as part of the author’s birthday – his 2006 centenary – the Gate’s production of the play could seem as much of a ritual, returning to the stage with regularity.

With repetition, an image of Krapp has begun to crystallise. Beginning with the performance of his originator, Patrick Magee, and sustained by Jack McGowran, Edward Petherbridge and John Hurt, Krapp has been realised as an eccentric recluse, a thin streak of misery – in short, a dead ringer for the author.

Recently, though, Fergus Cronin proved that immensely moving results could be achieved with a softer, more vulnerable figure. As the masterful Michael Gambon prepares to unspool his thoughts and peel his bananas, the role still seems to be open to boundless interpretation, particularly if the director is dauntless. (The director here is Michael Colgan.)

“Perhaps my best years are gone,” says the tape, “when there was a chance of happiness. But I wouldn’t want them back. Not with the fire in me now.” Each actor finds a cruel irony in that line, but as Krapp makes his many unhappy returns, there’s an astonishing power in the play that burns still.

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