Happy Days

Patricia Rozema's production of 'Happy Days' is a profoundly disappointing experience. When I heard the play was going to be filmed as part of the 'Beckett on Film' series I was delighted, since the longer plays are seldom performed where I live, and I have great respect for Ms. Rozema's other work. And I am not one of those Beckett afficionados who rails against 'interpretation' of the plays, since everyone involved in any stage production has a hand in interpreting. However, the power of this play is not in the words, but in the silences. In her comments on her approach, she states that she was after as natural an approach as possible, which apparently requires Rosaleen Linehan to get through her dialog as quickly as possible, disregarding the direction 'pause'. Ms. Linehan spent several weeks buried up to her waist, and later her neck, at the top of a volcano in the Canary Islands to make this film. A bit more 'stagey-ness' and theatricality would have made this a little less dull.