Review: Krapp, 39

A Twist on Looking Back Over Life
By Lauren Yarger
If you have looked your 39th birthday in the face, you’ll identify with Krapp, 39, Michael Laurence’s twist on Samuel Becket’s Krapp’s Last Tape, in which a character looks back over his life.

Whereas Beckett’s Krapp is 69, listening to a tape he made on his 39th birthday, Laurence, directed by George Demas, is turning 39 and recording the video which he hopes to review on stage when he’s 69. It’s a clever twist filled with biographical dialogue which Laurence speaks directly to the audience or into a video camera with his image, or significant props projected on screen. It’s a well presented 80-minute window into one man’s life as he stands on the edge of the end of his youth.

Laurence shares memory highlights from his first 38 years: there was the time he went to confession, even though he’s not Catholic; the girlfriend who through him out; a visit to a peep show; the death of a close friend; a list of the things he’s not able to do. The eclectic collection is entertaining and the idea that it might have future theater life is intriguing. The production already saw resurrection after playing the NY Fringe Festival last summer to the Off-Broadway Soho Playhouse where it plays through May 31. Laurence has been nominated for a Drama Desk award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

For tickets, visit http://krapp39.com/home.htm.

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