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Abstract
Meeting a Beckett text for the first time engages one in a phenomenological consideration of the director/actor relationship through the rehearsal process as mediated by the distinct requirements of the Beckett production text. As a consequence of working with the actor Virginia Byron on Beckett's play Rockaby at the Drayton Court Theatre in June 2003, it is my contention that Beckett engages with a profound sympathy for the human condition in his text articulated by a genuine ‘warmth’ and ‘care’ in the delineation of character. This is counter-pointed by an intentionally harsh control of the performer's body and performance conditions to create the necessary tension of Beckett's theatrical vision. The director/actor relationship must negotiate the performative realities and possibilities offered through the text to find the true depth of this feeling. Beckett's conditions for the production of his plays are, I believe, necessary prerequisites for the realization of this feeling in performance.