SOURCE: Gontarski, S. E. “Beckett's Play, in extensor.” Modern Drama 42, no. 3 (fall 1999): 442-55.

In the following essay, Gontarski finds Play to be a crucial element in the formation of Beckett's theatrical sensibility.

To date none of the commonly available English texts for Samuel Beckett's Play, in fact, none of the printed texts in any edition in any language, is entirely accurate. None reflects the final text Beckett took such pains to establish; none, that is to say, includes the revisions he made after first consulting on the world premiere in German (1963), then overseeing more directly near-simultaneous productions in French and English (both 1964), and finally directing the play himself at the Schiller-Theater Werkstatt in October 1978. British and American publishers tried to accommodate Beckett's production changes in various editions of the published work, but Beckett's revisions were made in as well as on stages, over an extended period. As publishers...