Apart from this large-scale opera, Glass added a work to his catalogue of theater music in 2007, and continuing—after a gap of twenty years—to write music for the dramatic work of Samuel Beckett. He provided a "hypnotic" original score for a compilation of Beckett's short plays "Act Without Words I", "Act Without Words II", "Rough for Theatre I" and "Eh Joe", directed by JoAnne Akalaitis and premiered in December 2007. Glass's work for this production was described by "The New York Times" as "icy, repetitive music that comes closest to piercing the heart".