An English actress and a French director among the world's foremost interpreters of the works of Samuel Beckett will be featured at a three-day festival celebrating the Nobel Prize-winning author, scheduled Oct. 9-11, at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del.
The University of Delaware Samuel Beckett Festival will include performances by Billie Whitelaw, pre-eminent actress and acclaimed stage interpreter of Beckett's plays, and by actor and director Pierre Chabert, as well as a keynote address by Ruby Cohn, doyenne of Beckett scholars and professor emerita of English at the University of California at Davis. Also scheduled are panel discussions with noted Beckett scholars on criticism, translation and performance.
In conjunction with the festival, an exhibit will highlight the University of Delaware Library's Sir Joseph Gold Samuel Beckett Collection, and filmed Beckett works will be screened.
Widely regarded as one of the most important and influential writers of the 20th century, Beckett (1906-89) was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College. In the 1930s, he emerged as a writer of note in Paris, where he met and was influenced by James Joyce. In 1953, his play "En attendant Godot" opened to acclaim in Paris. Productions in London and New York brought him international recognition and secured his reputation as a writer of significance. In 1969, he received the Nobel Prize in literature "for his writing, which-in new forms for the novel and drama-in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."
The festival calendar includes:
Thursday, Oct. 9
* 4 p.m.: An inaugural address by Cohn on "Protean Beckett"; and
* 8 p.m.: Performance, in French, of "La Derniere Bande (Krapp's Last Tape)" by Chabert.
Friday, Oct. 10
* 10 a.m.: Panel on Criticism and Scholarship, with Tom Cousineau, professor of English at Washington College; S.E. Gontarksi, professor of English at Florida State University; and Enoch Brater, professor of English at the University of Michigan.
* 3 p.m.: Lecture on "The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett: Archival Adventures" by Lois Overbeck and Martha Fehsenfeld, professors of English at Emory University and editors of the Correspondence of Samuel Beckett.
* 8 p.m.: "An Evening with Billie Whitelaw," Beckett's actress of choice in a program of readings and reminiscing. Tickets are required for this event only, and reservations will be accepted starting Sept. 1.
Saturday, Oct. 11
* 9 a.m.: Panel on Translation, including with Lois Oppenheim, professor of French and chair of French, German and Russian at Montclair State University; Tom Bishop, professor of French and department chair at New York University; and Jean-Michel Rabate, professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania.
* 10:45 a.m.: Panel on Performance, with Chabert; Daniel Labeille, professor of theatre and director, producer and executive producer of "Rockaby," which featured Whitelaw; and Xerxes Mehta, professor of theatre at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and director of the Maryland Stage Company.
All activities, except the Whitelaw performance on Oct. 10, are free and open to the public.
Exhibition
The UD Library's Sir Joseph Gold Samuel Beckett Collection will be featured in a special exhibition, "Samuel Beckett: A Celebration," on view from Aug. 26 through Dec. 19 in Special Collections at the University's Morris Library. Gold, who donated his collection to UD before his death in 2000, was a noted legal scholar and retired general counsel and director of the legal department of the International Monetary Fund. Passionate about literature, he was a renowned collector of works by and about contemporary writers and poets, but his greatest enthusiasm was for Beckett.
The Gold Collection of more than 3,000 items devoted to the Irish author includes first editions and bibliographically significant editions of books, play scripts, periodicals, theatrical ephemera and other material.
Films
"Beckett on Film: 19 Films x 19 Directors" and "Rockaby" will be screened during the festival in the Media Viewing Room on the lower level of the Morris Library.
Sponsors
The Samuel Beckett Festival is sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts, the Delaware Humanities Forum, the University of Delaware Library Associates and UD's College of Arts and Science, departments of English, Foreign Languages and Literatures, and Theatre, the Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events and the Library.
For details on all events, visit the web site at [http://www.English.udel.edu/beckett].
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