Krapp's Last Tape (Ireland)

Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, V for Vendetta, The Honourable Woman) stars in one of Samuel Beckett’s greatest dramatic achievements, Krapp’s Last Tape, a theatrical masterpiece that resonates with audiences across generations. The work’s introspective narrative and sharp wit offer a compelling reflection on our own journeys of self-discovery and the inevitable march of time. 

We meet Krapp, a man in his late sixties. Every year, on his birthday, Krapp records a new tape – a review of the year just gone. But on this occasion – his 69th birthday – he listens back to a tape he recorded three decades before. 

“I had no certainty that one day I might play Krapp, but I thought it a good idea to pre-record the early tapes so that the voice quality would differ significantly from that of the older character, should the opportunity ever arise to use it.” 

By taping himself years prior, Stephen Rea ingeniously recreates exactly Beckett’s conceit in allowing us to watch the older man agonise as he listens to his younger self, realising the vast chasm between the man he was and the man he has become. 

As much a meditation on loneliness and the extraordinary tricks that memory plays, as a lament for squandered potential and lost love, Stephen Rea’s critically lauded performance has utterly captivated audiences during its sell-out runs in Ireland this year. Don’t miss this one-man tour de force.