INDIANAPOLIS — The pandemic has exposed all of us to the unique demands of confinement on body, mind, and relationships. In 1961, Irish playwright Samuel Beckett dramatized the confinement of one woman tethered to the earth in the tragicomedy Happy Days. Clerical Error Productions will be bringing the play, a classic of the modern theatre that has nonetheless received few, if any, productions locally over its life, to the District Theatre, February 23-26.
At the sound of a piercing bell Winnie wakes and exclaims, “Another heavenly day.” Even though she is buried in a mound of earth, Winnie — ever the optimist — goes about her day without acknowledging her precarious position. She brushes her teeth, puts on lipstick, reminisces, and references great works of literature that she has read; but she can no longer remember the lines that inspired her. Her source of comfort and inspiration, and all her “happy days,” are the items in her seemingly bottomless bag, her thoughts, and the presence of her companion, Willie.
Although Happy Days is one of Beckett’s most whimsical works, it continues his relentless search for the meaning of existence, combing the tenuous relationships that bind one person to another, and each to the universe, to time past and time present.
Happy Days features Kate Duffy as Winnie and David Mosedale as her partner Willie. Jon Lindley directs. Following the February 24 performance, William Fisher, Professor of Theatre at Butler University, will conduct a post-show discussion with the audience.
Performance times are February 23-25 at 7:30, February 26 at 2:30. All seats are $20, and tickets available at indydistricttheatre.org
