Cascando

Synopsis

Voice and Opener are the primary figures in Samuel Beckett’s enigmatic and haunting radio play “Cascando.” This piece, translated from French by Beckett himself, immerses listeners in a fractured narrative of an internal struggle to find closure through storytelling. The Opener, dry and detached, and the Voice, panting and desperate, navigate the perpetual quest to finish a story, only to realize it is never the right one. The narrative unfolds through a series of disjointed and repetitive scenes, where Voice recounts his attempts to conclude his tales, only to be interrupted by Opener’s mechanical routine of opening and closing.

The play explores themes of existential despair, the futility of creation, and the relentless pursuit of meaning. It is a radio drama with elements of theatre of the absurd, structured in a non-linear, episodic format that reflects the cyclical and often futile nature of the characters’ efforts. The setting is abstract, dominated by the interplay of sound and silence, enhancing the disorienting and introspective experience of the narrative.