Samuel Beckett and The Empty Stage

"As we shall see, Beckett's ultimate goal was not to eliminate either visual image of language, but to discover images as well as utterances which, instead of telling a story, would convey to the spectator a profound and complex sense of emptiness and silence" (60-61), writes Les Essif. Specifically relating this to Play, one way to analyze what Essif wrote is that "less is more". Things that hold true to that idea seen in Play, there are three characters all by themselves in individual urns, specific lighting, and rapid-monotone speech. Another thing that Essif states about Beckett and the theme of emptyness is, "A metaphysical point of view, however, would prompt a different reguard for darkness as it would for emptiness, so the obsure or out of focus periphery becomes more alluring and functional then othewise considered" (70).

I think that if Play was written any differently, both with the text and stage directions, it would not convey the messages it was intended to. Also, we wouldn't be able to appreciate Beckett's wonderfully unique and absurdly delightful work!

Sources:
Essif, Les. Empty Figure on an Empty Stage. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Universtiy Press, 2001.