Design Statement

Krapp’s Last Tape is a testament to one man who has managed to spoil the greatest moments of his life and reduced his existence to absolute meaninglessness. It is a play that simultaneously exists in the past, present, and future: the action of today, the words of yesterday, and the inevitable demise of tomorrow. Krapp himself exists in three time periods, the young Krapp, the middle aged Krapp, and the old Krapp. Each is able to look back on his predecessor and the memories dear to him as foolhardy and hopeless. The voices of the past have recorded vital information, which the later versions have either forgotten the meaning of or discarded as worthless. The eccentric and charismatic Krapp, who once considered himself on the verge of grandeur, is seen as a failure of a writer and a corpse of a man suffering from ill health and decay. Krapp has allowed the burning passion he once had to devolve into a yearning to leave this Earth. In his last days, Krapp is haunted by the failure of his life, surrounded by the worthlessness of its end, the shadows of his past lingering behind him and only the peace of death in front of him.