Krapp's Last Tape and Footfalls.

The Citizens Theatre presents Dominic Hill's new production, two plays by Samuel Beckett: Krapp's Last Tape and Footfalls.

PREVIEW BY GARETH K VILE.

PUBLISHED 01 JUNE 2012

Dominic Hill's first season as artistic director at The Citizens has been a clear statement of intent. While he promises a few surprises in the next year, his 'trilogy' of serious scripts – Pinter's Betrayal, King Learand finally the Beckett double bill of Krapp's Last Tape and Footfalls – announced that Hill was not only playing to his strengths as an interpreter of texts but continuing the tradition that made The Citizens a producing powerhouse in the late twentieth century.

Hill is more than willing to challenge himself. "I felt we needed to say that we are about putting on the greatest writers in the world: and so – Pinter, Shakespeare, Beckett. My motive for becoming a director was reading plays as a student and saying, I want to see this! I still get that thrill when I read a good play."

Kay Gillie – who is taking on an unusual role in Footfalls (her character never comes on stage) – adds that there is a new energy in the building. "It is an amazing atmosphere and there is always so much going on," she says. "It really is a hive of creativity. You meet actors you have not seen for ages and get the chance to chat about different productions. It is a very stimulating place to be."

As the final production of the season, a Beckett double bill is a brave choice. By casting Gerard Murphy as the titular hero, Hill brings back an actor who made his name at The Citizens in the 1970s, deliberately recalling the theatre's glory days. And Beckett – a rare example of a modern playwright who is both popular and experimental – is well known enough for Hill's version to be compared to recent productions.

Gillie, fresh from The Steamie's successful tour directed by Tony Roper, admits "I am definitely a Beckett fan," having played "woman" in The Arches' production of Rockabye. And while Beckett is known as a writer, his use of theatre goes far beyond the script: the tactic of keeping one character off-stage, Gillie adds, "is part of a range of classic Beckett style elements. It is part of something larger. For me the role also still requires that connection with the live theatre audience. This is what makes Beckett so special."