By Meredith O’Donnell

Recently, New College Theatre hosted a preformance called Beckett Shorts, a compilation of short plays by the 20th century writer Samuel Beckett was performed at the . The intimate black box theatre, about a quarter of the size of West End’s, was graced with the talents of Christal Boutte, Patrick Mills and Desiree Accomando, along with other students both from New College and the University’s Drama Department.

Beckett’s trademark is writing stories which are open to vast interpretation and few times do people share the same perceptions. The challenge of dissecting and understanding the pieces was discussed by the actors at a brief symposium immediately following the show. Audience members shared their thoughts and inquiries with the cast and director, Professor Cindy Rosenthal.

“I think I just decided what the plays meant last week,” jested Patrick Gaughan, a cast member in the piece “Rough For Radio II.” This appears to be the story of four individuals trapped in a scientific lab experiment. There is an assistant who acts as a secretary (Boutte) taking notes and reading back to her boss (Gaughan). Dick (Mills) is possibly a mute, as he only grunts and eagerly whips the subject, Fox (Sean Butler), on command, in order to make him speak so that his experiences may be deciphered and studied. Butler’s character is mentally unstable, therefore, as Butler describes, “I had to dig inside to bring out his insanity and find something to use for the part.”

Mills switches gears to portray a character with more depth in the melancholy “Embers,” as Henry (Mills) retrieves inside his mind to explore and try and understand the things that he’s done and that have been done to him. He explores a rocky relationship with his father in discussion, reflects on his own parenting decisions in regard to his daughter through memories, and engages in a supernatural discussion with his deceased wife. Cleverly designed and executed, the visions Henry is recalling, teaching his daughter to play piano and to ride a horse in two separate scenes, appear in the background behind a black curtain with Tim Fischer’s and Emma Burnett’s lighting design directing the eye to important visuals.

“The greatest gift is the exploration,” Mills said of Beckett’s works and of analyzing the piece. Mills’ performance shows insight into the dialogue and passion for his craft.

“Come and Go” exemplifies the ambiguity of the evening. Three girls in identical dresses, the only difference being the colors, with matching hats which conceal much of their faces making them look even more similar, sit on a bench and reminisce about childhood. “We became really close during rehearsals. We all talked about what the play means and shared ideas,” Leslie Dini said.

“Rockaby,” Beckett’s most famous work, due in part to Richard Eyre’s version on film, featured Accomando as the old woman draped in black rocking herself, “at the close of a long day,” as the script redundantly explains. Her own pre-recorded voice provides the monologue, while the woman pensively sits in silence, contemplating her search for somebody like herself, until her death. The script is repetitive as the audience listens to what she is thinking, depicting the monotony of life, as well as the struggles which continue until we die.

Concluding the symposium, Rosenthal said, the accordance of numerous audience members, “The close bond of the cast comes through in theirperformances.”