Event Description
Duration: 2 hours – including interval
Stage and screen icon Pamela Rabe (The Children, The War of The Roses, The Lost Echo) immerses herself in one of the greatest roles ever written, Happy Days’ eternal optimist, Winnie. Conceived and directed by award-winning theatre designer Nick Schlieper – Lighting Designer on The Picture of Dorian Gray, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Dracula – and Rabe herself, this production of Beckett’s classic play is a unique creative offering and a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience.
Somewhere in a dreamlike wasteland, Winnie is buried up to her waist in a mound of earth. The sun beats down on her, relentlessly. She is unable to see her husband Willie (a man of few words), who she chatters to and prompts for affection and approval. Undaunted, she continues to celebrate each happy day.
Written in the poetic, distilled and brilliant style that crowned Beckett the greatest dramatist of his day, Happy Days is a play about the power of the human spirit when faced with impossible circumstances. In the hands of two legends of Australian theatre-making, this new production will plumb the original depths of Beckett’s script while exploring the play’s haunting and inspiring contemporary resonances. Happy Days is a grand night of theatre that no one will want to miss.
Playwright: Samuel Beckett
Conceived and Directed by: Nick Schlieper and Pamela Rabe
Cast includes: Pamela Rabe;