Abstract/Summary

This thesis focuses on a selection of Beckett’s plays for theatre starting with his major works Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days before exploring two of his shorter later plays Footfalls and Rockaby. By using the objects, props and costumes that frame the action as a prism through which to study his work, the aim is to facilitate fresh readings of Beckett’s plays for the stage using the theoretical frameworks of phenomenology alongside scenography to investigate how Beckett’s work challenges the audience to re-evaluate our notions of domesticity and how we define home. The work seeks to engage with Beckett’s manifestations of home by examining the domestic rituals and routines that humans are bound to, even in the most inhospitable and barren settings or surroundings. My research aims to gain a deeper understanding into Beckett’s work by examining the mise en scene, with each chapter employing textual analysis alongside case studies that examine contemporary performances of the plays. These are used to evaluate the decisions by directors and designers to present Beckett’s work in dynamic ways, often as a response to crisis, and to analyse how and why these choices are so effective in channelling or resonating with the wider anxieties and concerns of the societies and audiences; sometimes at the moment of performance but equally in the time leading up to and following production. By taking account of the plays’ early productions before considering modern directors and designers who are presenting challenging and progressive presentations of his work, this thesis intends to explore the way in which Beckett’s work continues to resonate with modern audiences by intervening in socio-political debates about home and environment which are pertinent to audiences in the 21st century and which engage with dialogues beyond the stage.