Rockaby

Rockaby ['rakəbai] is a short one-act play that Samuel Beckett wrote in 1980 for the State University of New York . This wanted to organize a symposium for Beckett's 75th birthday and had asked him for a contribution. Rockaby premiered in Buffalo on April 8, 1981, directed by Alan Schneider .

The title alludes to the name of a somewhat humorous English nursery rhyme, the most popular version of which, similar to its German counterpart “Hoppe, hoppe, Reiter” ends with a baby falling from a tree because the branch on which its cradle breaks Stand: "Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop, / When the wind blows, the cradle will rock, / When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, / And down will come baby, cradle and all."

action

Rockaby shows an old lady dying. Dressed entirely in black, she sits motionless in her deceased mother's rocking chair, whose rocking movement always begins as if by magic when she asks for "more". Her face is pale as chalk, her hair is gray, her eyes are huge. The stage is empty and dark. All you can hear is her monotonous voice, which comes not from her mouth but from the tape and tells her stories of her past and her dead mother in the form of a rhythmic radio play, carried by the meter of the rocking chair.

Four times the woman gives the chair and the voice the signal to continue the acoustic game with her (each time getting quieter) “more”, three times she stops it again with a small veto. This objection and the rocking of her chair also become more hesitant and gentle each time. At the end of the piece one waits in vain for her to be interrupted. The rocking still gradually comes to a standstill while the woman slowly drops her head and dies.

Footnotes

↑ As is well known, the German song ends even more macabre: “Hoppe, hoppe, Reiter / When he falls, he screams. / If he falls into the ditch, the ravens will eat him. / If he falls into the swamp, the rider will make you plump. "
↑ Both the rock-a-bye spelling and the fact that it is a play on the English term for lullaby, namely lullaby , suggest that the final syllable of Beckett's Rockaby [-ai] and not [-i] speaks.

[1] As is well known, the German song ends even more macabre: “Hoppe, hoppe, Reiter / When he falls, he screams. / If he falls into the ditch, the ravens will eat him. / If he falls into the swamp, the rider will make you plump. "

[2] Both the rock-a-bye spelling and the fact that it is a play on the English term for lullaby, namely lullaby , suggest that the final syllable of Beckett's Rockaby [-ai] and not [-i] speaks.