For the past 18 years, UBC Arts Assistant Dean Gerald Vanderwoude has directed a Samuel Beckett play for UBC Theatre and Film to kick off their performance season. This year, the department chose not one, but four short Beckett pieces. These plays are produced every year in memory of Peter Loeffler, famed UBC Theatre professor and Killam Teaching Prize winner who inspired students for 30 years with a love of theatre and an appreciation for playwrights like Beckett.
The four pieces being produced this year:
- Krapp’s Last Tape with Chris Humphreys
- Footfalls with Beverly Bardal
- A Beckettian Film Experience with Cam Cronin, Joe Procyk, and Norman Young
- Biddies in a Boat: The Great Drift Continues with Beverly Bardal and Deb Pickman
If you’ve never been to a Beckett show before, go in with an open mind – it might be very different from any other piece of theatre you’ve seen. To get a sense of why UBC Theatre and Film chooses to present a Beckett play every year, and to get to know some of the people behind the production a bit more, we came up with some burning theatre questions to ask.
This year’s showcase, Beckett 18: it all…ah well, begins Wednesday, September 26th and ends on Saturday, September 29th, with shows at 7:30 p.m. each day.