About the work
Wordless mime by Samuel Beckett, written in French in 1956 at the request of the dancer and mime Deryk Mendel, originally intended for a Paris cabaret; since that stage lacked the rigging needed for the planned suspended props, it was instead first performed on 3 April 1957 at the Royal Court Theatre in London, following a performance of Beckett's "Endgame." The music was composed by Beckett's cousin John S. Beckett.
Plot
A nameless man is thrown into a desert-like stage space. An unseen mechanism repeatedly offers him objects – a tree with shade, scissors, cubes, a water bottle just out of reach – only to withdraw or disable them the moment he has learned to put them to use.
Cultural significance
This silent study in thwarted effort is regarded as one of the clearest stage formulas for Beckett's view of the world: human beings act rationally yet fail against conditions beyond their control. Beckett drew on patterns from ancient myth, notably Tantalus, as well as the gestures of silent-film comedy.