London-based actor Peter Marinker, known for his extensive work on BBC Radio, his many audiobook recordings and his long association with Samuel Beckett’s publisher John Calder will perform Krapp’s Last Tape at The Cockpit this September.
Now aged 84 and recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Marinker brings decades of experience performing Beckett’s work as he returns to one of the playwright’s most demanding solo roles – with the function of memory in relation to selfhood at the
heart of the production.
In Krapp’s Last Tape, Beckett’s one-act monologue written in 1958, the audience meets a man marking his birthday alone, while listening to and reflecting on recordings he has made each year on that day. Now 69, we hear a recording Krapp made at the age of 39 and within it, his reflections on tapes made in earlier years, as he makes what we are told is his last tape.
This new production at The Cockpit will use reel-to reel recordings made by Peter Marinker the last time he played Krapp in 1983. A stage manager will be present, and any in-ear prompts needed will run alongside the play, highlighting the relationship between memory and remembering, cognition and re-cognition.

Following his recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the decision to return to Krapp’s Last Tape at this stage in his life was a deeply personal one, allowing Peter to bring his lived experience to Beckett’s exploration of memory and ageing. Peter will be supported at all times by the production team at the Cockpit and by his family. Proceeds from the run will be donated to The Alzheimer’s Society.

Peter says “When I first saw Waiting for Godot at Stratford East in 1961, I had no idea what it was or what to expect – and no idea whatsoever of the impact Samuel Beckett and his writing would have on the rest of my life”.

After seeing the show – which reminded him of poems his Irish mother used to read to him while he was growing up in Canada – Peter started taking part in readings of Beckett’s shorter works and performed in several productions of Waiting for Godot. An introduction to Beckett’s publisher John Calder in the early 2000s led to forming The Godot Company, dedicated to performing ‘Beckett as Beckett intended’. Peter is now one of the most recognised interpreters of the playwright’s work. Aside from his Beckett roles, Peter’s body of work as an actor includes extensive work in BBC Radio and in audiobooks.

In preparing to play Krapp, Peter has drawn inspiration from the work of Australian biologist and author Jeremy Griffith and his writing on the human condition. Peter says “As an actor I love to share other’s created characters and words. I believe them and convey them to an audience for them to believe them. Nowadays we use gadgets to remember things, to remember ourselves. Krapp uses a tape recorder to remember the words of his young self. A couple of years ago I discovered I had Alzheimer’s disease. Now I feel very excited to do the show”

“My brain is taking me on a journey with more of the right side of my brain than the left . The right brain of instinct and feeling rather than the left brain of calculation and thoughts. In our society the left is the dominant side. I feel that the excessive reliance on the left is taking us, or in my case, my children and grandchildren, over a cliff. Now I’m reaching back into my past to find something to help me in the present.”

Director Dave Wybrow said “We are doing this production because of Peter’s Alzheimer’s, not in spite of it. Our relationship with memory is never perfect yet it dominates our sense of self and our sense of meaning. Krapp is the perfect play to describe that. And doing the play with Peter is the perfect way to do it. One aim is to show that creative work can be accessible to artists as well as audiences as we get older. But there is also an exploration taking place; of the role that memory, belief and decision-making inter-relate to define who we are and what we make real, moment to moment, age to age and now, this instant.”

For an actor, Krapp’s Last Tape is considered a virtuoso piece with its blend of pathos, physical comedy and innovative use of sound. The continued resonance of its themes of mortality and memory has meant it is revived regularly and continues to be performed by many actors as an opportunity for a tour de force.

Directed by Cockpit director Dave Wybrow, the production will be designed by actor/designer Duncan Henderson, who will bring his unique perspective as a performer to the stage design. The process of creating the show will be captured by videographer Chris Lincé, generating a lasting legacy for Peter’s performance.