In Beckett’s one act play Endgame, the aged and blind Hamm and his servant Clov co-exist in a mutually dependent and fractious relationship, with only Hamm’s parents, Nell and Nagg, legless from a biking accident, for company. They are condemned to a daily routine sealed off from the void outside.

Award-winning actor Mark Rylance plays Hamm. The former Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe is a hugely talented Shakespearean actor whose numerous stage credits include Much Ado About Nothing, for which he won a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2007 he won acclaim for his performance in French farce Boeing Boeing at the Comedy theatre, which transferred to Broadway, where Rylance won a Tony Award. He comes to Endgame fresh from a star turn in Jerusalem at the Royal Court.

Rylance is joined in Endgame by Complicité’s Artistic Director Simon McBurney, who plays Clov as also directs the production, plus Miriam Margolyes (Wicked on stage, Blackadder, Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets on screen) and Tom Hickey as Nell and Nagg.

Theatre company Complicité, which presents Endgame, has a reputation for producing boundary-pushing theatre. Its production of A Disappearing Number won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2008.

For more on Endgame, read our feature on Complicite or the First Night Feature.