Samuel Beckett, who is often synonymous with Paris, lived out the majority of his adult life navigating the rich and vibrant streets of the city. Not only is a street dedicated to him, but he was also a constant presence in the cafes of the Left Bank and often walked with fellow writer James Joyce through the verdant Île aux Cygnes. Beckett eventually passed away in this city and rests along with his wife, Suzanne, in Montparnasse Cemetery.
However, associating Beckett with Liverpool can feel a bit out of the left field. This unusual connection has been created through Beckett: Confined 2022 and Beckett: Unbound 2024 – two innovative, multi-genre events inspired by Beckett’s work, bridging the gap between Paris and Liverpool. These events have been successfully established due to a growing collaboration between the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool, the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and Unreal Cities; an all-inclusive art venture, launched in 2020 by director and actor, Adrian Dunbar along with musician and composer, Nick Roth.
The distinct title, Unreal Cities, hails from one of the standout lines in TS Eliot’s iconic poem, The Waste Land, which itself has been borrowed from Les Fleurs du Mal, penned by 19th-century French poet, Charles Baudelaire. This notable trinity of artistic influences forms the central creative philosophy of the company, which is indeed the principle of three.
The name Unreal Cities was directly inspired by The Waste Land, where Dunbar and Roth initially teamed up at the Happy Days Festival in Enniskillen. The pair soon realised the potential of their partnership and brought their production to life at the Hay Festival and then in Alexandria, Egypt with many more ventures following thereafter.
Dunbar, from his base in Leitrim, along with Roth, has been preparing his latest production – a radio play called All That Fall for Beckett: Unbound. Additionally, he is working on ‘A Fool’s Errand’, a travel-based piece encouraged by Dermot Healy’s grand epic on the seasonal relocation of barnacle geese from Greenland to Co Sligo. This performance fuses music, script, and art and includes the combined talents of actor Lalor Roddy, artist Diarmuid Delargy, and a trio of musicians.
Dunbar and Roth are the masterminds behind Beckett: Confined and Beckett: Unbound, two exhibits that explore Beckett’s knack for manipulating spaces within and across various genres, places, and atmospheres, as well as his “confinement politics.” Drawing from the success of the 2022 event, they have compiled another compelling portfolio of fresh work and reinterpretations of existing works.
“Adrian [Dunbar] conceived the concept and title Beckett: Unbound as a counterpoint to the topic of confinement. It is dynamic and immediate in its communication, symbolising a much-awaited relief from the anxiety of lockdown,” Commented Nick Roth, composer on the project.
Launching in Liverpool on 30th May, Beckett: Unbound, in alliance with the Irish Cultural Centre, will transition to Paris on 5th June. Anchored around a challenging combination of theatre, music, film, dance, photography and discourse, the exhibition underscores Beckett’s relentless intrigue with communication and his adeptness at navigating temporal and spatial distances via technology.
The collaboration with the University of Liverpool was initiated by Prof. Peter Shirlow, head of the university’s Institute of Irish Studies. Shirlow, formerly the assistant director at the Institute for Conflict Transformation and Social Justice in Queen’s University Belfast, had been a frequent visitor to events run by Unreal Cities and invited the troupe to showcase some of Beckett’s works in Liverpool.
“His department is always seeking to branch out into the city, home to a vast Irish community,” said Dunbar. “I consulted Nick, and we began considering what resources we had available that we could weave together, potentially in a mini festival’s guise. I already possessed my renditions of Catastrophe and Ohio Impromptu, matched by Nick’s new music. Given the pandemic circumstances, the topic of confinement naturally arose.”
[ Peering between Foxrock and a hard place – Frank McNally’s take on Samuel Beckett’s Cooldrinagh ]
In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, people had grown accustomed to being indoors and restricted, recounts Roth. Guiding the music programme, he also involved in the creation of a new music-infused film. Their work proved to be successful that they were invited back the following year for a prospective repeat performance. However, considering the magnitude of the task, they proposed a biennial event. This would afford them more time for the creation of new works and for streamlining everything.
The concept and title of Beckett: Unbound was conceived by Adrian. The title reflected the opposite of being confined, exuding an explosion of instant energy and signifying a cherished release from the rigidity imposed by the lockdown period, infusing a high energy of breaking free. Consequently, four new pieces were commissioned: a dance, two music compositions, and a film.
One of the music world premieres is Quad by Kevin Volans, which is a string quintet transcription of the movement sequences encapsulated in Beckett’s corresponding television play. Originally published in 1984, it was likened to a ballet involving four people. The second premiere is Simon Roth’s Mouth, a solo percussion transcription complementing Beckett’s suggestive monologue Not I/Pas moi. The piece to be presented in both French and English by Clara Simpson, mirrors the sonic semantics of Billie Whitelaw’s iconic 1973 interpretation where she perceived her own internal scream.
According to Nick Roth, they deemed it necessary to incorporate dance into the programme to diversify the display of talents as much as they can, for they believe such addition would make it more stimulating.
Sentient, a novel dance composition by choreographer Liz Roche, was created in cooperation with Roth and Nathalie Forget, a French composer and performer. The extended performance involving six dancers captures the narrator’s enchantment with his bees’ movement from Beckett’s Molloy. To quote the novel: “I frequently contemplated about my bees… Above all, I pondered their dance; unlike human dances that aim at enjoyment, their dance was distinct.”
Roth explained their desire to include a dance element to the programme was an effort to diversify the arts disciplines. Roth’s admiration for Liz Roche’s work encouraged discussions of incorporating new ideas in which a dance reflect bee communication sparked the inception of the piece. A residency at the Irish Cultural Centre led Roth to Nathalie Forget, the Ondes Martenot player, shaping the musical element with an inspiration of the bees’ humming sounds. This not only led to a co-composition opportunity but also highlighted the strength of working in trios.
In the theatre section, the much-acclaimed duo, actor Denis Lavant and director Jacques Osinski, are set to present their two French-language productions. Their renowned version of Krapp’s Last Tape will have its first-ever UK performance in Liverpool, while Endgame will commence a five-week marathon in Montmartre’s Théâtre de l’Atelier.
Schubert’s String Quartet No 14 features in “All That Fall”, which is one of the only two compositions Beckett specifically mentioned. Roth had fashioned a fresh sound design for Dunbar’s adaptation of the original radio play, wherein the sombre climax is a stark contrast to the jestful early scenes. Performances will see Orla Charlton, Anna Nygh, Frank McCusker, Vincent Higgins, Stanley Townsend, and Frankie McCafferty take on the roles.
Adrian Dunbar confessed his initial encounter with Beckett’s work during his drama school days in London. Although he found it intriguing how Beckett could stir emotions subtly, Dunbar admitted his difficulty in fully understanding it.
Original text refers to the work of Roth’s comrade, James Little, a jazz artist and admirer of Beckett, whose publication titled “Samuel Beckett in Confinement: The Politics of Closed Space” delves into Beckett’s endeavours within prison systems. The book appears to have rejuvenated the dormant Unreal Cities initiative, culminating in “Rough for Radio II” – a radio drama originally penned in French as “Pochade Radiophonique” by Beckett and later translated to English ahead of its air by BBC Radio 3 in 1976. Captured in HM Prison Liverpool by inmates, it was co-directed by Vincent Higgins and Simon Duding of Tipp, an entity driving arts programmes in the world of criminal law enforcement.
Dunbar, an Enniskillen native – coincidentally, Beckett’s boarding school town – concedes a lifelong, albeit unintentional relationship with the writer. During his time at drama school in London, Dunbar delved into Beckett’s work, intrigued by the writer’s uncanny ability to elicit emotions through some form of magic. His involvement in ‘Happy Days’, where he met Nick, led him to indulge in multiple productions over the years, and discover Paris more intimately through the Irish Cultural Centre. His understanding of Beckett was furthered when he filmed the BBC documentary “Searching for Sam” in Roussillon, South of France – a place that Beckett once called home.
Roth’s initial interaction with Beckett, on the other hand, was during Happy Days 2014 – where his group made an unprecedented move in a rendition of “Waiting for Godot” in Yiddish. Intriguingly, it’s the same piece Dunbar had once seen in New York and brought to Enniskillen. Furthermore, Roth collaborated with Conor Lovett and Stephen Dillane on Gare St Lazare Ireland’s long movie adaptation of Beckett’s “How It Is.”
Roth highlights the significance of coincidence, synergy, and sequence in their work, which he sees as validation that they’re heading in the right direction. The complexity of curating a festival that needs two years to assemble demonstrates this, as all elements must be integrated and layered. They’re working to create a programme that’s interconnected, where each component converses with the others, enhancing their mutual resonance.
Dunbar voices a strong conviction on an important aspect of art – recognising the interconnectivity amongst numerous elements. Any individual who can perceive these connections is an artist according to him. Identifying these potential associations is a something they are constantly working on, weaving them into existence. This transformative process births a masterpiece, but it can only be initiated by creating connections. This involves uncovering where the references lie and converging them to produce something unified. The sense of accomplishment when everything begins to consolidate is tremendous, providing everyone an integral position in the creation.
The Beckett: Unbound 2024 will be held starting from May 30th, Thursday, until June 7th, Friday.