Petherbridge Returns to London with Krapp

The RSC's critically acclaimed production of Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, starring Edward Petherbridge, returns to London this week for a limited four-week season, following its New York run. Krapp's Last Tape will run 7 January to 6 February 1999 (with previews from 5 January) at the Arts Theatre.

A 69-year-old man listens to the tape-recorded reflections on his life which he has collected over 30 years, all of them recorded on his birthday. The past talks and he talks back to his audience in the future.

Edward Petherbridge plays the melancholically nostalgic Krapp. Petherbridge, along with David Hunt, directs himself in the solo performance.

The second act of the performance includes the West End premiere of another, much shorter, Beckett play. With a running time of just 35 seconds, Breath made headlines on its opening for being the shortest play in history. The stage directions take longer to read than the piece itself.

Petherbridge's recent theatre credits include, for the RSC, Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, the title role in Cymbeline and the Player King/ Ghost in Hamlet. Recent films include An Awfully Big Adventure and The Opium Wars.

This is the first ever staging of Krapp's Last Tape by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play has enjoyed runs in Stratford and London as well as the Edinburgh Fringe and a national tour.

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