Endgame (play) Gascoyne starred in a staging of the play at both the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and HOME in Manchester. Endgame (play) Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, is a one-act play with four characters. It was originally written in French (entitled "Fin de partie"); Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the Royal Court Theatre in London, opening on 3 April 1957. It is commonly considered, along with such works as "Waiting for Godot", to be among Beckett's best works. The play was premiered on 3 April 1957 at the Royal Court Theatre,
Waiting for Godot the first time that he had taken complete control. Walter Asmus was his conscientious young assistant director. The production was not naturalistic. Beckett explained, It is a game, everything is a game. When all four of them are lying on the ground, that cannot be handled naturalistically. That has got to be done artificially, balletically. Otherwise everything becomes an imitation, an imitation of reality [...]. It should become clear and transparent, not dry. It is a game in order to survive." Over the years, Beckett clearly realised that the greater part of "Godot"'s success came down to the fact that