Play Beckett: A pantomime and three dramaticles – Act Without Words II, Play, Catastrophe, Ohio Impromptu

Play Beckett – uma pantomima e três dramatículos collects four Samuel Beckett plays — Act Without Words II, Play, Ohio Impromptu, and Catastrophe — written between 1956 and 1982, published for the first time in Brazil.

In Act Without Words II, a pantomime for two actors translated by Luana Gouveia as Ato sem palavras II, we see characters A and B being pushed into an identical routine of mechanical movements, which repeat, apparently without purpose, stuck in a continuous, endless cycle.

In Play, translated as Comédia by Rubens Rusche, the voices of a love triangle — a man, his wife, and his mistress —, each of them stuck inside an identical grey jar, centerstage, enter a dialogue in a complex chorus. With only their heads sticking out, their faces have lost age and appearance to the point of seeming to belong to the jars. No masks.

Catastrophe, also translated by Rubens Rusche under the title Catástrofe, brings onstage authoritarianism and manipulation. It’s one of the only Beckett plays with explicit political themes, and it was dedicated to Czech stage director Václav Havel, who was a political prisoner at the time.

Ohio Impromptu, translated by Leyla Perrone-Moisés as Improviso de Ohio, deals with the loss of a loved one, of the relationship between two people when only one is left. According to the translator, “this might be Beckett’s only love play: a love that was happy, a love for/from someone who passed and sends another to comfort the one who stayed. Another who’s the shadow of this dead person, a shadow that’s the image of the
one who’s left.”

The book also features an afterword about translating Ohio Impromptu written by Leyla Perrone-Moisés.

About the author
Samuel Beckett was born in 1906 in Dublin, Ireland. Playwright, novelist, and poet, he’s one of the most important writers in the 20th Century. Author of English and French expression, he wrote in both languages and self-translated, expanding his writing’s linguistic and cultural possibilities. Beckett used self-translation as a creative process. Among his most relevant works are Waiting for Godot, Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Happy Days, and Endgame.

About the translators
Leyla Perrone-Moisés is professor emeritus at the University of São Paulo (USP) department of Philosophy, Literature, and Human Sciences. She taught literary theory, and French, Portuguese, and Brazilian literature in various foreign universities, such as Université de Montréal, Yale University, Université de la Sorbonne (Paris III) and École Pratique des Hautes Études. She has published hundreds of papers and various books, among them Vinte luas. Viagem de Paulmier de Gonneville ao Brasil (1503-1505), which won the Jabuti award in the Essay category (1993); Altas literaturas (1998); Vira e mexe, nacionalismo (2007); Com Roland Barthes (2013); Mutações da literatura no século XXI (2016); Vivos na memória (2021).

Luana Gouveia is a graduate of Dramatic Arts from the University of São Paulo. As a founding member of the [pH2]: Estado de Teatro company, she produced conferences, workshops, and the creation and circulation of stage plays. She works as an educator and lighting tech. As an educator, she was part of the Projeto Espetáculo da Fábrica de Cultura do Capão Redondo staff, where she developed workshops with the apprentices. As a translator and interpreter, she was part of the IV Seminário Internacional de Comunidades Tradicionais Bantu, at Inzo Tumbansi, headquarters of the Instituto Latino Americano de Tradições Afro Bantu.

Rubens Rusche is a São Paulo director, translator, and producer. His directorial debut was in 1986, with the impactful Katastrophè, collecting Samuel Beckett’s Not I, Play, Rockaby, and Catastrophe. He put on various Beckett plays, including Endgame, for which he won the São Paulo Art Critics Association (APCA) award in 1996; Krapp’s Last Tape; That Time; Crepúsculo — 3 peças de Samuel Beckett, nominated for the Shell award; and Happy Days, nominated for the APCA. He translated all the Beckett plays he directed, and also authored the essays Sobre o riso no Teatro de Beckett and Poéticas da morte.

About the collection
The Dramaturgia collection has, since 2012, published writing by Brazilian and International playwrights. The books help in building a memory of current theater, making a new record in the contemporary theater scene. In 2015, Cobogó also launched Dramaturgia Espanhola, the Spanish collection, and, later, Dramaturgia Francesa (2019), the French collection, and Dramaturgia Holandesa (2022), the Dutch collection. There are over 100 titles published in the Dramaturgia collection, featuring various award-winning plays from over 70 important playwrights.

Specifications
Title Play Beckett: Uma pantomima e três dramatículos – Ato sem palavras II, Comédia/Play, Catástrofe, Improviso de Ohio [Play Beckett: A pantomime and three dramaticles – Act Without Words II, Play, Catastrophe, Ohio Impromptu]
Collection Dramaturgy Collection
Author Samuel Beckett
Translators Leyla Perrone-Moisés, Luana Gouveia, Rubens Rusche
Language Portuguese
Page count 112
ISBN 9786556910703
Cover Thema (Thea Severino and Marcio Freitas)
Size 13 x 19 cm
Format Softcover
Year 2022