Postapocalyptic tragicomedy opens at MainStage Theater Oct. 22-24
| Transports of Joy presents Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame” Date: Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 22-24 Time: 7:30 p.m.; doors open at 7 p.m. Location: MainStage Theater, lower level of University Commons, 1307 Park Road, Harrisonburg Cost: $20 general admission; free to EMU students with valid ID Runtime: Approximately 90 minutes, with no intermission Contact: endgame@transportsofjoy.com Tickets: Order tickets online here. |
Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame” opens at EMU’s MainStage Theater this month.
The play, billed as an absurdist tragicomedy set at the end of the world, will be performed nightly from Thursday, Oct. 22, to Saturday, Oct. 24, with showtimes at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission and free to EMU students with a valid ID. They can be purchased online here through Eventbrite.
First performed in 1957, “Endgame” centers on the blind and chair-bound Hamm (played by Tom King), who is confined to a single room with his servant, Clov (Jay Zehr, class of 1980). The two men are joined by Hamm’s aging parents, Nagg (Jason Heller) and Nell (Theo Panzol), who appear out of a pair of trash cans. The four are seemingly the last living beings on Earth.
“It could be anywhere at any time,” said producer and Transports of Joy co-founder Luis Lojo. “There’s no mention of how the world ended or how society collapsed, but you get to watch how these people are coping with it.”
“A pinnacle of Beckett’s characteristic raw minimalism,” reads a description from the Irish Repertory Theatre, “‘Endgame’ is a pure and devastating distillation of the human essence in the face of approaching death.”
Despite the bleak setting, Lojo promises laughs. “Endgame” has the same trademark dark humor as Beckett’s better-known play, “Waiting for Godot.”
“There’s actually a lot of humor in it,” Zehr said. “Even in the worst circumstances, there’s still humanity and there’s still people trying to connect with each other. There is still humor to be found, even in the darkest moments.”
MainStage Theater ‘the perfect size’
“Endgame” is directed by Courtney King, daughter of Tom King. It is the first play produced by Transports of Joy, which she founded with Lojo. Pam Johnson, professor emerita of theatre at James Madison University, serves as costume designer.
In 2023, Courtney King and Lojo attended a production of “Endgame” at the Irish Rep in New York. Inspired by the play, which they described as both funny and moving, they began planning their own version. This past June, the team began gathering to read the script aloud and workshop it.
After searching for the ideal venue, the couple, who split their time between New York City and Harrisonburg, found a home at EMU’s MainStage Theater. The 200-seat theater provides an intimate, up-close view of the stage from anywhere in the house, Lojo said.
“Even in the last row, you see everything,” he said. “It’s the perfect size because everyone gets to be near the action and be in the same experience.”
‘It’s 100% a labor of love’
Zehr and Tom King are longtime collaborators in the Harrisonburg theater scene, having worked together for 40 years. King was Zehr’s theater mentor at JMU.
“It’s really been a pleasure and a privilege to work with him in a production after all these years,” Zehr said.
The production also marks a return of sorts for Zehr, who attended EMU in the mid-1970s and played two seasons on its basketball team. MainStage Theater occupies part of what was then the college gym.
Lojo, a theater professional with more than 40 years of experience, said “Endgame” isn’t often staged, making the chance to see it “a rare opportunity.”
“As a producer, I’m aware of how difficult this is to sell to people and say, ‘Hey, do you want to come see our play about the end of the world?’” Lojo said. “It’s 100% a labor of love. This is just something we wanted to do.”
And while audiences might not leave “tapping a song,” Lojo hopes the experience stays with them.
“It might give you some perspective to help cope with different aspects of life,” he said.
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