12-Year Samuel Beckett Biennale Launches Across Ireland and UK

A new Samuel Beckett Biennale, organized by Seán Doran through Arts Over Borders, will unfold over 12 years across Ireland and Britain, tracing the playwright's footsteps from Enniskillen to Paris. The festival features experimental performed readings, including a Krapp's Last Tape with Samuel West (2036) and Richard Dormer using pre-recorded tapes from 2006 and 2008, stored by the BBC. Other highlights include an AI-generated younger voice performance by Malcolm Sinclair, an Ulster-Scots translation of Waiting for Godot, Not I with Claire Booth directed by Rufus Norris at Reading University, and Love, Sam staging Beckett's letters in Wexford. The 2028 biennale will feature a Waiting for Godot with homeless actors from France, Slavic regions, Italy, and England. The festival reclaims Beckett's Irish identity, long complicated by his exile in France, his preference for writing in French, and his critique of Irish theocracy. Early-bird tickets for 2036 are already on sale.