Samuel Beckett

    Samuel Beckett,    by Jane Bown,    1976,    NPG P373,    © The Jane Bown Literary Estate / National Portrait Gallery, London Samuel Beckett, by Jane Bown, 1976, NPG P373, © The Jane Bown Literary Estate / National Portrait Gallery, London

Past display archive
18 June 2005 - 8 September 2006

Room 31 showcase

Free

This display celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the British premiere of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, which was performed at the Arts Theatre Club, London in August 1955. The initial audience reaction to the play's stark view of human existence, and its deeply unconventional dramatic structure, was hostile. Nevertheless, such respected critics as Kenneth Tynan and Harold Hobson were appreciative, and within a short period the play became hugely successful. It is now recognised as a landmark in post-war theatre, transforming conventional ideas about plot, characterisation and language.

After Waiting for Godot, Beckett's principal works include the plays All That Fall (for radio, 1956), Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1958), Happy Days (1961) N ot I (1973), and Ohio Impromptu (1981); and the prose works Imagination Dead Imagine (1965), The Lost Ones (1971), Worstward Ho (1983), and Stirrings Still (1988). In 1969, Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature: 'For his writing which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation.' He died in 1989.

The display comprises a selection of portraits of Beckett from the National Portrait Gallery collection, including a remarkable series of photographs by his fellow Irishman, John Minihan. These portraits are complemented by performance photographs of two of Beckett's most celebrated plays: Endgame and Krapp's Last Tape.

    Samuel Beckett,    by Henri Cartier-Bresson,    1964,    NPG P721,    © Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos Samuel Beckett, by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1964
    Samuel Beckett,    by John Minihan,    1984,    NPG x29000,    © John Minihan / National Portrait Gallery, London Samuel Beckett, by John Minihan, 1984
    Samuel Beckett,    by John Minihan,    1984,    NPG x29001,    © John Minihan / National Portrait Gallery, London Samuel Beckett, by John Minihan, 1984
    Samuel Beckett and an unknown man,    by John Minihan,    1984,    NPG x29004,    © John Minihan / National Portrait Gallery, London Samuel Beckett and an unknown man, by John Minihan, 1984