Endgame and Breath

Synopsis: BREATH (d. Damien Hurst, 1 min.). Written in 1969 in response to Kenneth Tynan’s request for a sketch to be included in ‘Oh Calcutta’. The most compressed of Beckett’s works, lasting less than a minute. On a set full of rubbish, a person cries out and breathes again. Life is reduced to a brief interlude of dim light between two cries and two darknesses symbolising birth and death. The voice is Keith Allen’s.
Series: Samuel Beckett on Film
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of production: 2001
Notes: Broadcast on C4, 28/9/01.
All 19 plays in the series and also a documentary on the filming of the dramas, interviews with their distinguished directors, a stills gallery with commentary and a souvenir programme are available in a boxed set of 4 DVDs. Duration: 10hrs 47mins price £99.99. Follow the links at http://www.beckettonfilm.com/beckett_dvd.html
Documentation: On-line programme notes and online extras containing synopses of each play, biographies on the actors and directors, opportunities for close textual analysis of Beckett’s work at www.4learning.co.uk/secondary
Uses: Ages 14 and up.
Subjects: Drama; Literature
Keywords: Beckett, Samuel (1906-1989); drama in English

Director

Conor McPherson; Damien Hirst

Producer

Alan Moloney; Michael Colgan

Writer

Samuel Beckett

Cast

Name: 4 Learning
Notes: Channel 4 Learning has now closed. This used to be the educational broadcasting arm of Channel 4. The online shop sold educational DVDs and CD-ROMs for use in primary and secondary schools.

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