The Beckett Effect - All That Fall

By Ruth Skilbeck

In 2003 when I wrote a feature for The Irish Times about the Beckett conference in Sydney, one of the scholars I interviewed for the story was Anthony Macris (author of Capital) who said and I quoted: "When things go wrong at a Beckett conference everyone always says that's so Beckettish". He was referring to the debacle that had erupted- and almost caused an international exaggeration sorry incident- when Becket nephew of Samuel and keeper of his estate had objected to the playing of music in a production of Waiting for Godot by the Belvoir Theatre Company.

Those words of wisdom came back to haunt me today when I suffered an accident as I was preparing to travel to the Becket conference in Sydney (Beyond Historicism: Resituating Beckett) where I was due to give my research paper this afternoon, on the theme of  "Playing Beyond Historicism and Trauma: A Matrixical Feminist Reading of Beckett's 'Art of Fugue".

How it happened I do not know but I managed to drop a  very heavy handled knife from a height onto my bare left foot as I hastily put away the dishes. The agony lasted for hours and I could not walk, and still can only painfully hobble. Luckily I did not exactly slice off my toe, it was not a cutting knife, but the weight of the decorative stainless steel handle managed to split the toe nail and produce one of the nastiest blood blisters I have ever and would hope to have never had. Strange how pain can cause one to practically pass out and that is how I spend the hours this afternoon, in a darkened room with ice and bags of frozen peas pressed to my tootsie, as my whole system recoiled with the effects of Vaso Vagel syndrome.

Now the conference is over. I missed out on the opportunity to meet international scholars, and peers, and my toe is starting to feel a little better. Spirit's not.

I can only quote from the master himself here.

My frock! You've nipped my frock! [MR SLOCUM opens the door. MRS ROONY frees her frock. MR SLOCUM slams the door.  His violent unintelligible muttering as he walks round to the other door.  Tearfully.] My nice frock! Look what you've done to my nice frock! MR SLOCUM gets into his seat, slams driver's door, presses starter. The engine does not start. He releases starter. ] What will Dan say when he sees me?

(from All That Fall; selected at random from The Complete Dramatic Works).

It was Beckett to a toe.



Skilbeck, Ruth, 2003, War Drums Beat Over Beckett, The Irish Times, January 17 2003