Playwright

Samuel
Beckett

Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) is widely recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. Beckett is most renowned for his play Waiting for Godot, which launched his career in theatre. He then went on to write numerous successful full-length plays, including Endgame in 1957, Krapp’s Last Tape in 1958, and Happy Days in 1960. Beckett received his first commission for radio from the BBC in 1956 for All That Fall. This was followed by a further five plays for radio, including Embers, Words and Music, and Cascando. Like no other dramatist before him, Beckett’s works capture the pathos and ironies of modern life yet still maintain his faith in man’s capacity for compassion and survival, no matter how challenging his environment may have become.