Happy Days

[Oh les beaux jours]

Play in two acts by Samuel Beckett

Premiered on September 24, 2008 at the Grand Theater of Luxembourg

In Happy Days, written in 1960/61, Samuel Beckett leads us into the world of a mature lady. 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 full of life. She tries to turn every day in a happy day. She tries to find moments of happiness through a ritual created by herself . She collects her daily objects around her, she talks with them and when she touches them, the objects reminds her the past and she is then 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's not surprising that she sings their favourite melody, the struggling tune of The Merry Widow: "Lippen schweigen..."

The production starred famous Italian actress Adriana Asti as Winnie. At its premiere in Luxembourg, the play was performed in French. Later, on tour, the production was often performed in Italian.

Happy Days was Robert Wilson's first production of a Beckett play, the second one being Krapp's Last Tape (2009).