The earth is barren. The sea stands still. There is less and less of anything here. In the shelter, blind despot Hamm (who can’t stand up) lords over his weary attendant Clov (who can’t sit down), each dependent on the other. Hamm’s legless parents Nagg and Nell slowly expire in adjacent trash bins, confined there by their son. Day after punishing day, Hamm steers Clov through a series of senseless, circular routines in impotent defiance of a predetermined outcome. With each reminder of the death that awaits him outside, Clov inches nearer to the exit.

Nobody does tragicomedy like Samuel Beckett. A central line from the play, “Nothing is funnier than unhappiness,” practically defines the genre. Director Jason Nodler and Greg Dean (Hamm) revisit their roles from Catastrophic’s 1995 and 2012 productions. Luis Galindo (Clov), Jeff Miller (Nagg), and Julia Oppenheim (Nell) round out the cast.

“ Catastrophic Theatre’s stark, unflinching production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame demonstrates exactly why this company and its artistic director Jason Nodler are so important to the city’s cultural life .” – Houston ChronicleRead more