Don’t give up. That’s the message we’ll take away after watching Center Stage’s special Mobile Unit performance of Endgame. But the play takes an unusual route to get there. To land on this important theme, playwright Samuel Beckett mixes in a few key ingredients. Here’s what you need to look out for…

First, we have a strong dose of Absurdism. Absurdism is exactly how it sounds—absurd. Take all the purpose and meaning out of something, keep all the difficulty and hassle of it all and voila! You have an absurd situation. Endgame is chock-full of situations that don’t make any sense, feeding the anxiety we all feel in the face of a pointless task.

Second, for good measure, we’ll sprinkle in some imminent disaster. What’s a good play without suspense? Beckett’s play doesn’t offer much of a sense of place or time, but we do know one thing: an earth-shattering catastrophe has just occurred and our characters are trapped in a room wondering how much time they have on this earth. And more importantly, what to do with that time.

But despite this backdrop, it’s not all gloom and doom. In fact, that is the play’s whole point. Even in the most troubling times, we can find meaningful interactions with others that bring us back to life. Enter friendship. Endgame’s two main characters, Hamm and Clov, are quite literally on their last leg. Hamm is blind, elderly and confined to a wheelchair, while Clov’s stiff leg causes him to limp and stagger as he walks. While they are mostly at each other’s throat, their inability to abandon one another is the hopeful thread weaving this story together. 

And last but not least, we have a whole lot of perseverance. The entire storyline leads up to this, the key takeaway of the play. And lucky for us, it comes natural. According to Beckett, humans are hard-wired to endure life’s curveballs. We duck the wild one, then get right back up for the next one. Because, well, that’s what we do. And we help each other do the same . At times, Endgame pulls at our heartstrings, but it does so with intention. In the end, our characters pick themselves up and dust themselves off.

Center Stage’s Endgame is sure to challenge and inspire, and the whole intent behind sharing it with our community is simple: everyone deserves art. Please let clients know about the performance, and encourage them to attend the discussion afterwards. The issues the play tackles hit close to home for us all, and we’re guaranteed to laugh a little as explore them together.

Center Stage performs Endgame on Friday, April 28, 1 p.m. at 421 Fallsway, 2nd-floor group rooms followed by a post-play discussion facilitated by Chief Health Officer Nilesh Kalyanaraman. Learn more with their education guide.