Simon Callow in "There Reigns Love", a performance of the sonnets of William Shakespeare and also in 2008, he appeared at the Edinburgh Festival performing "Dr Marigold" and "Mr Chops" by Charles Dickens, adapted and directed by Patrick Garland; repeating them from December 2009 to January 2010 at the Riverside Studios and on tour in 2011. In February 2008, he played the psychiatrist in Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus". Between March and August 2009, he starred as Pozzo in Sean Mathias's production of "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett opposite Sir Ian McKellen (Estragon), Sir Patrick Stewart (Vladimir) and
Samuel Beckett described as minimalist. The extreme example of this, among his dramatic works, is the 1969 piece "Breath", which lasts for only 35 seconds and has no characters (though it was likely intended to offer ironic comment on "Oh! Calcutta!", the theatrical revue for which it served as an introductory piece). In his theatre of the late period, Beckett's characters—already few in number in the earlier plays—are whittled down to essential elements. The ironically titled "Play" (1962), for instance, consists of three characters immersed up to their necks in large funeral urns. The television drama "Eh Joe" (1963), which was written