Beckett trilogy heads to the Lowry

A trilogy of Samuel Beckett plays performed by actress Lisa Dwan, will be coming to the Lowry Theatre in September for their only northern performances.

In May 2013, Lisa Dwan’s performance of Beckett’s landmark piece Not I was staged at the Royal Court, 40 years after the theatre held its UK premiere in 1973. The entire run sold out, with extra dates added due to demand and both critics and audiences captivated by Beckett’s unique piece and Lisa’s performance of it.

In January 2014, Lisa Dwan returned to the Royal Court to reprise her critically acclaimed performance of Not I alongside two more classics, Footfalls and Rockaby, directed by Beckett’s long-time collaborator, Walter Asmus.

The Lowry’s run of Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby is the trilogy’s final UK date, before embarking on an international tour.

For those not familiar with the three, Not I is an intense monologue, set in a pitch-black space lit by a single beam of light. A disembodied female mouth floats eight feet above the stage and delivers a stream of consciousness, spoken, as Beckett directed, at the speed of thought. Lisa Dwan was tutored in the role by Billie Whitelaw, who originally performed the part at its 1973 UK premiere and was personally coached for the part by Beckett himself.

Footfalls features the distant voice of ‘Mother’ and May who paces back and forth like a metronome, on a bare strip of floor. Footfalls was first performed by Billie Whitelaw, for whom the piece had been written, at the Royal Court as part of the Samuel Beckett Festival in 1976, directed by Beckett himself.

Rockaby is probably the most famous of Beckett’s last works. It explores loneliness and features a prematurely old woman dressed in an evening gown, sitting on a wooden rocking chair that appears to rock of its own accord. Rockaby was first performed in New York in 1981 starring Billie Whitelaw and then at the National Theatre in 1982.

Not I, Footfalls, Rockaby
Tue 23 – Sat 27 September
Quays Theatre
Times 8pm, Sat 2.30pm

Box Office 0843 208 6000
thelowry.com