Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Nick Birkinshaw.

It is the shadow of what can happen to us all when we obsess over what has been and allow the memory room to breathe, take shape and distort what has been. The alienation of the future self as it withers into frosted, disgraced old-age as it rages against the impetuousness of youth and the exuberance of hope that resides in middle-age, all set down for posterity as mould settles on the floor and in the mind, these are the qualities that make Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape such an outstanding and rewarding play to see at the Unity Theatre.

In what is Graeme Phillips’ last directorial production in the theatre that he steered and presided over, Krapp’s Last Tape is a towering response to the intimate action of self obsession, self loathing and how a man can change over the course of his life, from vigorous youth to shell like animation. All bought to bringing the soul to bear as an act of confession as the old man listens to his former self regaling in long words and gripped emotion on tape.

If someone could intrude on your thoughts, random, selected, poised, considered or full of bile and prejudice, if they could rifle every pore via an electronic apparatus and see how you view yourself, it could be considered an act of betrayal, yet by taping ourselves. Even in modern parlance, by placing every thought down on social media to be seen in 20, 30 or 50 years time as proof your arrogance and hurt, we allow ourselves to become bitter and full of shocked pain as we remember details of lost illusion.

There are perhaps very few actors that perform such a piece, at least with intensity of the 1000 yard stare required as if searching for a lost piece of unalienable truth deep within the decaying memory. In Nick Birkinshaw, who wowed audiences in 2014 with a scintillating performance in The Judgement of Hakim, both the Unity Theatre audience and Mr. Graeme Phillips had the right man who could do the role justice completely. Mr. Birkinshaw captured the attention even with his back to the crowd, sitting silently, and with Buster Keaton playing to the camera in Samuel Beckett’s only screenplay, Film, playing.

It is a fundamental truth that if an actor can hold the attention of audience by doing nothing, then what follows can only surely lead to an enlightened thought.

For Mr. Graeme Phillips, this will be a lasting testament to what is already a huge legacy in Liverpool theatre; for Nick Birkinshaw, it is quite simply a piece of beautiful theatre. A stunning performance!

Ian D. Hall