Happy Days

In this play written in 1960/61, Samuel Beckett explores a melancholy subject, steeped in humour, which today even more than in the past, asks for our attention and moves our souls: on our way to senescence, when we feel more fragile because of the effects of time, how can we live, feel, and even hope for happiness? Beckett brings us into the world of a mature lady, Winnie. She is buried to the waist in a mound. In the vision of Robert Wilson, it is the result of an eruption in the asphalt. The lower part of the body is immobile and hidden to the others. She only communicates with her arms, her hands, her face, her words, and her eyes, which are full of life. She tries to turn every day into a happy day. She tries to find moments of happiness through a ritual that she has created for herself. She collects her daily objects around her and talks to them, and when she touches them, the objects remind her of the past, and only then is she able to smile. This ritual gives her strength, and she finds in it a meaning for her life, in spite of the decline of her mobility.

A particular chance for her is the presence of her husband, Willie, who shows for her some kind of affection even if he is not very talkative. And finally, maybe at the end of the last day, it is not surprising that she sings their favorite melody, the struggling tune of The Merry Widow. —Ellen Hammer

Starring Adriana Asti as Winnie.