BECKETT PRODUCED BY PETER BROOK

Advantages: SUPERB ACTORS
Disadvantages: GLOOMY, AS IT SHOULD BE

...Last night I have seen Peter Brook's production of "Come and Go", together with "Rough for Theatre I", "Rockaby", "Neither" and "Act without Words II". The title of the whole evening was "Fragments", and it lasted about an hour; "Come and Go" is the last little play staged, and one of the best pieces. As most of my readers probably know, Beckett was a Nobel price for literature, author of great plays like "Waiting for Godot" (first staged in 1952) and "Endgame" (1956), and of smaller plays called with the French term "dramaticules" (little plays). They last from few minutes to seconds ("Breath", for instance, is just a breath, taking about half a minute). Beckett's most famous plays date back to the fifties; he died in 1989, and kept writing till the end. "Rough for Theatre I" belongs to Beckett's production of the fifties...

shakscene 26.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Come and Go - Samuel Beckett

Waiting for Whom?

Advantages: Applicable to a modern audience
Disadvantages: Takes a lot of studying to truly understand it

...appropriate for the review. *The Background* At the time of writing "Waiting for Godot", there was no other similar type of play in the world of theatre. It is perhaps best described as being from "The Theatre of the Absurd", the expression invented by the critic Martin Esslin for the work of a number of playwrights, mostly written in the 1950s and 1960s. The term is derived from the French philosopher Albert Camus where he first defined the human situation as, in its simplest form, meaningless and absurd. The 'absurd' plays by Samuel Beckett and others such as Arthur Adamov, Tom Stoppard, Edward Bond, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, all share the view that man is inhabiting a universe with which he is out of key. Its meaning is mysterious and his place within it is without purpose. He is bewildered, troubled and obscurely threatened...

tashat 30.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

Advantages: Wonderful reading
Disadvantages: Edited version

...Whilst Samuel Johnson's Dictionary was not the first attempt at creating a dictionary of the English language, it was the first serious attempt by someone who was a skilled lexicographer. It was first published in 1755. The latest edition is not the full version, it is a special edited version produced by Jack Lynch, with selected highlights form the original work. The original publication was 2,300 pages of definitions of words published in two volumes. So useful was it that it remained the definitive dictionary of English for at last 150 to 200 years. The Jack Lynch version is considerably smaller, one volume with only 646 pages. The book starts with an introduction from Steven Leveen, the president of the Levnger Press, which explains why they decided to publish a new edition of the dictionary. There is also a fulsome...

Martinscholes 28.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary - Jack Lynch

Waiting And Waiting

Advantages: Original, funny and interesting
Disadvantages: Not everyone's cup of tea

...Samuel Beckett has been a great influence to 20th Century theatre. In the 1950's he invented a new kind of play - absurd. Now many of you may read this play and think that it is the biggest lot of rubbish, but as I always say - a play is meant to be seen and not read. "Waiting For Godot" was the beginning of absurd drama and absolutely slated by the press on it's opening. One reviewer wrote "Nothing happens. It's terrible!" But somehow, it caught on and people like Stoppard, Ionesco and many others followed in Beckett's footsteps. The play shows us a day in the life of Vladimir and Estragon, two homeless men waiting... for... well Godot of course. What Godot is, we can only speculate, but the play is funny (if performed correctly) and intrigueing. If your usual type of play is "Mrs. Brown's Last Wedding" or "Jack...

Kozinski 23.12.2000 · Read review
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Review of Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

Waiting for a good available production of this

Advantages: Fascinating, beautifully comical, unpatronising, complete yet not satisfying
Disadvantages: Probably boring to some due to lack of real action

...I first discovered this play when I was 15. I study Drama at school and found the bit of the play we acted really amusing (if completely random) so I went out and bought it. Seen as a whole, it's not so much random as life-like, in an obscure and worrying way. The play deals with the subject of Life, portraying humanity and its eternal wait for something amazing to happen. Two of the characters (of which there are only four) spend the play ambling about the stage, waiting for Godot to appear and sporadically threatening to leave or suggesting that they commit suicide. Nothing happens, as Beckett himself writes in the play. A few entrances and exits, but in general nothing more than frustration and occasional wonder. It's fantastically funny, with witty and bizarre comments flying between Vladimir, Estragen and Pozzo (but not...

punkdizzylaa 30.03.2003 · Read review
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Review of Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

This really isn't for everyone but its good

Advantages: Great play
Disadvantages: Hard to get into for some people

...Waiting for Godot was originally written in French but was subsequently translated back to English by Beckett. It was Beckett's first play, and many would say one of his greatest. There are heavy influences from Beckett's peer-group in the "Theatre of the Absurd" - which later influenced writers such as Tom Stoppard and Harold Pinter. The two main charachters are Vladimir and Estragon who are waiting on a deserted road for Godot to come along. There is also a boy who appears at the end of each act to tell Vladimir and Estragon that Godot will not be coming that night but in act two he denies that he was there the night before. Pozzo and his servant Lucky also appear. They create a distraction for Vladimir and Estragon in act 1, but in act two they are blind and dumb respectively. Things are very confusing for Vladimir...

kenigma 22.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

nothing comes out of no thing

Advantages: excellent mindcatcher
Disadvantages: none

......

sandy.imy 02.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

Because hanging gives an erection?

Advantages: Faithful to the original text, and so much effort was put into the films
Disadvantages: Wished to find more prominent actors in them

...Beckett on Film DVD The 4-DVD box set consists of 19 film adaptations of plays by Samuel Beckett. These plays are: Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Happy Days, Act Without Words I, Act Without Words II, Krapp's Last Tape, Rough for Theatre I, Rough for Theatre II, Play, Come and Go, Breath, Not I, That Time, Footfalls, A Piece of Monologue, Rockaby, Ohio Impromptu, Catastrophe, What Where. * To start with, I will not talk about each of these plays on its own, as this will be just tedious and not helpful; describing some of the plays will be enough to give you an idea of the project and help you decide better, I think. The reason why I watched these DVD's is definitely Waiting for Godot, which I read a couple of years ago but didn't have the chance to see it performed. Reading the play was not an easy task at all, that's why I think...

sottovoce82 16.05.2007 (28.12.2007) · Read review
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Review of Beckett On Film (DVD)

The Frugal Cook - Move Over Nigella!

Advantages: Good common sense recipes to make the most of your food budget.
Disadvantages: Not enough pictures of the finished product.

...The Frugal Cook by Fiona Beckett ***What's it all about? *** In keeping with the fashion for all things frugal, Fiona Beckett has written a cookbook to make the most of feeding your family. It starts with some tips on how to generally analyse the way you think about food. She first looks at the skill of stretching food, being more energy efficient and the frugal store cupboard to name just a few tips. Then the main emphasis of the book is on recipes, including sections on: ~Budget breakfasts and brunches ~Light lunches and snacks ~Easy midweek suppers ~Big weekend cook-ups ~The frugal host Finally there is a section containing and A-Z of leftovers and what you can do with them. There is also a section advertising her blog. The book is 208 pages long and is published by Absolute Press (2008). I did actually get this book from...

LAURALILIA 26.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Frugal Cook - Fiona Beckett

Samuel L Jackson Shines

Advantages: Performances great, brilliant soundtrack
Disadvantages: Slightly predictable plot line

...Samuel L Jackson plays a past in blues man no longer able to play through fear of God. When he stumbles across the towns local sex addict nymphomaniac (Christina Ricci) one evening brutally beaten and left dead on the side of the road he takes her in and vows to cure her of her evils. The story follows these methods, their growing plutonic relationship, the towns reaction and her attempts at re-engaging with her boyfriend (played by Justin Timberlake). This is a curious movie and I must admit to not knowing what to have made of it immediately after seeing it. The plot became increasingly predictable and concludes in expected fashion but there was something distinctly likeable about the film. I think this was in no uncertain terms due to the charisma, believability and likeability of Jackson's character. Where the others on occasion...

Nixu1980 17.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Black Snake Moan (DVD)