Patrick Stewart found 'Star Trek' fame but always returned to Shakespeare and the stage Before he captained the Starship Enterprise, Patrick Stewart commanded the Shakespearean stage The Independent UK · Oct 30
63 Memes That Need Absolutely Zero Context To Be Funny An audience has gathered around a single premise: memes so completely unmoored from any traceable origin that providing context would actively destroy what makes them work. No backstory, no source, no explanation. Just the image and the immediate involuntary reaction of a brain that does not know what it is… Bored Panda · Oct 27
Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days has new meaning in the age of climate change In Happy Days, one of Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s best-known plays, the body of the protagonist Winnie is embedded in a mound of sand or dirt. During the first act, she is buried to above her waist and in the second, she is buried up to her neck. The Conversation · Sep 23
Not I review – a mouth steals the show in Rufus Norris’s strange and deeply moving take on Beckett Soprano Claire Booth’s mouth is isolated against a black background to capture the racing brain of a desperate woman, with added operatic flair The Guardian - UK · Sep 20
Pin de Fartie review – spoonerist remix of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame finds fresh absurdity in Argentina Beckett’s masterpiece is given a postmodern cinema slant, with characters in different locations, music and humour in a free and fanciful interpretation The Guardian - UK · Sep 1
Endgame review – Beckett’s lonely clowns raise an extra laugh Flabbergast Theatre’s production of Samuel Beckett’s desolate play leans into slapstick – and loses some of the searing threat The Guardian - UK · Aug 15
‘Soon I’ll really start to puke’: Samuel Beckett’s travels around Nazi Germany Published for the first time this month, the Irish writer’s record of his months in pre-war Germany is a fascinating insight into his understanding of, and unease with, Nazism The Guardian - UK · Aug 15
I went to a listening session held in total darkness, and I’ll never hear this classic album the same way again Nothing to see here – no, literally, there’s nothing to see What Hi-Fi? · Jul 17
Quote of the day by Samuel Beckett, 'Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better' offers life lesson that failure is universal, every unsuccessful attempt should teach us something valuable Quote of the day by Samuel Beckett offers life lesson wisdom about perseverance and personal growth. Failure is not the opposite of success but an essential part of achieving it. Every setback provides valuable lessons that contribute to future improvement. Through resilience, patience, courage, and continuous learning, individuals transform mistakes… The Economic Times · Jul 12
‘It’s a national reclamation’: the 12-year festival bringing Samuel Beckett back to Ireland The playwright has long been considered one of the country’s most famous exports, but not an ‘Irish writer’. An ambitious new season of plays explores his complex relationship with his homeland – and tickets are already on sale for 2036 The Guardian - UK · Jul 10
‘I’d pause then carry on’: Peter Marinker, star of Krapp’s Last Tape, on performing with Alzheimer’s The 84-year-old actor has spent decades bringing Samuel Beckett’s plays to life. Does his recent diagnosis give him new insights into playing ‘sad clown’ Krapp in a drama about age and the battlefield of memory? The Guardian - UK · Jun 23
Death in Venice: Willem Dafoe thrills theatre biennale with adventurous shows about ghosts and rebirth From a Noh Othello that puts Desdemona centre stage to a requiem for a family killed in the Rwandan genocide, the theatre at this year’s festival gives voice to the marginalised The Guardian - UK · Jun 15
Quote of the day by Samuel Beckett: "The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to..." Learn the profound wisdom from the legendary playwright who revealed how joy, sorrow, resilience, and human experience forever shape life Quote of the Day by Samuel Beckett highlights a timeless truth about human life, happiness, and suffering. This powerful Samuel Beckett quote reminds us that while one person faces sadness, another discovers joy. The quote of the day explores emotional balance, human nature, wisdom, resilience, and personal growth. In a… The Economic Times · Jun 5
Feldman and Beckett: Words and Music review – hypnotic absurdism at Sheffield Chamber Music festival This fascinating and bold concert featured the works of the ‘word man’ and the ‘note man’, and their absurdist radio play Words and Music The Guardian - UK · May 19
The Guardian - UK · May 12 Matching Gary Oldman’s Krapp with a teenager’s take on Godot is a masterstroke The Royal Court is presenting the Slow Horses star’s version of one Beckett masterpiece alongside 19-year-old Leo Simpe-Asante’s riff on another. They combine beautifully
Evening Standard · May 12 Krapp’s Last Tape review: Gary Oldman is sublime 4/5 Gary Oldman brings his Beckett show to the Royal Court for a commanding display
The Conversation · Mar 23 ‘Destroy! Be courageous!’ – 2 shimmering meditations on grief, nihilism and motherhood In 1983, Erin Vincent was 14 years old. Like most adolescents, she was beginning to shed her childhood and starting to grow into a more durable, flexible adult skin. But when her parents were killed by a speeding tow truck in western Sydney, she found herself frozen in time, immobilised…
The Independent UK · Mar 13 A Yoko Ono biography that avoids John Lennon... Really? MCCRUM ON BOOKS: Yoko Ono’s art career has seen her wrap orchestras up in gauze and make paintings with numbered instructions – all before she stumbled into Beatlemania. A new book sidelines her partnership with John Lennon, but Robert McCrum argues that her role as the musician’s muse unleashed one…
The Guardian - UK · Mar 8 Plan to turn Irish borderlands into Unesco ‘region of literature’ Arts group proposes literary routes across 11 counties linked to writers from Jonathan Swift to Lisa McGee
The Guardian - UK · Feb 16 ‘I wasn’t ambitious until I was 60!’ Gary Wilmot on comedy, panto, musicals – and his Beckett-style new play He left school at 15 and worked as a scaffolder. Then success on New Faces launched him to stardom – and he’s been a panto and musicals sensation ever since. So what made him write a comedy about two men waiting?
The Conversation · Jan 22 Why failure is a necessary ingredient for success – especially in the era of AI On the arm of Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka is tattooed a quote by Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
The Guardian - UK · Jan 1 Forget Keanu: Ulster Scots translation of Beckett classic takes on spate of celebrity Godots Tragicomedy will be performed outdoors in Northern Irish countryside as part of new festival celebrating Irish playwright
The Guardian - UK · Nov 19, 2025 Harold Offeh: Mmm Gotta Try a Little Harder, It Could Be Sweet review – desire, despondency and disco divas Offeh’s show blares and jostles with life as he mimics Mammy, listens to self-help advice and gets naked for Grace Jones’s anatomically impossible Island Life pose
The Conversation · Nov 10, 2025 Stereophonic: this play about an ailing rock band is a must-see masterpiece For legal reasons, David Adjmi and Will Butler’s play is absolutely not about the recording of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours. But like that famous album, it is a dizzying amalgamation of influences, mercurial talents and creativity that sits among the defining achievements of its generation. And like Fleetwood Mac,…
The Guardian - UK · Nov 7, 2025 Alex Winter on fame, AI and reuniting with Keanu Reeves: ‘Sometimes we’re on a groove and go, ‘God damn, that was good!’ Midway through the Broadway run of Waiting for Godot with his Bill & Ted co-star Keanu, the actor-director talks about his new film, Adulthood, overcoming the abuse he endured as a young performer, and why we’re wrong about artificial intelligence