What Where

What Where is the last play written by Samuel Beckett. It was written in 1983 in English, and revised over a three year period for seperate stage and television productions in French and German.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Four characters (Bam, Bom, Bim, and Bem) appear at intervals, all dressed in the same grey gown with the same long grey hair. Bam controls and interrogates the others, sending them off to be tortured (given "the works") in order to confess to an unnamed crime that he, in turn, places on all of them. A seasonal cycle from spring to winter passes in the course of the play, with Bam repeating the same questions and actions: eventually Bom, Bim, and Bem have interogated each other at least once, and the cycle begins again. Bam has an additional manifestation in the Voice of Bam (V), an omnipresent force that directs the proceedings from a "small megaphone at head level." The voice acts something like a "voice of God", and determines things to be positive or negative at a whim.

Play: A play is a common form of literature, usually consisting chiefly of dialog between characters, and usually intended for performance rather than reading. However, many scholars study plays in this more academic manner, particularly classical plays such as those of Shakespeare (rare authors, notably ...

Samuel Beckett: :For other things named Beckett, see Beckett (disambiguation)...

1983: 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar....