Why would the Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award nominee actress, Stockard Channing (most notably known for playing Rizzo in Grease) makes her directorial debut at the Edinburgh Festival with Krapp’s Last Tape, and join in post-show Q&As, Upstairs at The Roxy at 1.25pm daily, Wednesday 5 August – Monday 31 August (press performance Friday 07/08/26)?
Answer: because her best friend and fellow multi-award-winning actor David Westhead will star as Krapp + the fact that all monies will be going to the charity The Wembley to Soweto Foundation.
The two reprobates met when playing opposite each other in the movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2000), David set up the charity Wembley to Soweto (2010), Stockard moved to London (2018), they became each other’s bubble during lockdown (2020) = Besties Forever…. and now life is Krapp.
Channing and Westhead have created an artistic collaboration and a unique legacy for themselves, exploring the intricate layers of Samuel Beckett's 50-minute masterpiece and Krapp's solitary world. Outrageous, relatable, heartbreaking and a tribute to the vaudeville that exists in Beckett, all brought to life as Krapp’s Last Tape delves into the life of Krapp, a 69-year-old man, surrounded by the detritus of his life, with his past life playing on his old tape recordings - the ghostly voice of his younger self.
David Westhead said, “I saw the play in my youth and suddenly I’m the right age to play Krapp. We rehearsed in Stockard’s kitchen. I was Krapp. Literally and metaphorically. Her first comment was, “Well, who the hell’s going to watch this?” Slowly things improved and we moved gingerly into the lounge. The play involves a couple of bananas. Benny the dog kept trying to eat them. So, we moved back into the kitchen.”
Stockard Channing said, “David assured me we’d only play his pal’s arts centre for the charity, and now we are taking it to Edinburgh for Wembley To Soweto! I don’t think he will mind too much if I assert that David Westhead is truly Krapp. Talk about Theatre of the Absurd.” Stockard plays the Edinburgh Festival for the first time, directing Krapp’s Last Tape and joining David on stage for Q&A sessions, following selected performances, to offer deeper insights into Beckett's timeless work. The last time David played Edinburgh was as a student in 1982, emptying the venue with “the producer losing the shirt off his back and all of us losing our dignity”. Nothing much has changed in 44 years as David says: “So far, in total we've spent £3000 on the show + costs for staying in students’ rooms at the university + food & petrol. Friends built the set. My kids (24 & 27) run the show. The whole caboodle goes into the back of my 2007 Ford C-Max. With me and La Channing in the front. Hilarious. Talk about both getting back to our roots ”.
And their reason for “doing” Edinburgh = is to sell out, and post the basic expenses, make a chunk of change for the charity, The Wembley to Soweto Foundation.
The same old Krapp, but somehow better.
Find out more and hear Stockard talk about the show on Lorraine : Krapp's Last Tape website
