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The Guardian - UK

Entertainment

Arifa Akbar

Textplay review – Beckett and Stoppard SMS comedy is short on lols

Samuel Beckett Tom Stoppard NYU Skirball

Tom Stoppard and Samuel Beckett. — Texting for Godot? … Tom Stoppard and Samuel Beckett. Composite: Getty, Jane Bown

This virtual conversation between Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard imagines what two giants of the theatre would talk about – or, rather, text each other about.

Nothing of much interest, it turns out. Written by the pseudonymous Archer Eland (could there be a more contrived pseudonym?) and produced by NYU Skirball, it plays out in messages over 35 minutes, complete with a sad face emoji (Beckett), keyboard smiles (Stoppard) and love hearts (both), reflecting our own WhatsApp ramblings back at us.

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