‘Krapp’s Last Tape’ with David Westhead as Krapp, © John Cole

Krapp’s Last Tape

Academy Award nominee Stockard Channing brings her production of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape to the Kino Theatre in St Leonards on Thursday 13 November. It is a play about a journey through an old man’s life, filled with hilarious memories and hopes for the future, coupled with the mourning of lost love and unfulfilled ambition, writes John Cole.

This production, directed by Stockard Channing and starring David Westhead, has toured globally throughout 2025, and has been brought to life in disused function rooms, underground vaults, former jails, and dusty factories. Bringing her unique directorial vision to this production, Stockard Channing (who has been in Grease, The West Wing and Six Degrees of Separation, to name but a few) explores the intricate layers of Beckett’s masterpiece.

David Westhead (W1A, Mrs Brown, Iron Lady, Strike, The Bodyguard), a veteran of The Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company, this 50-minute theatrical experience delves into the life of Krapp who, at the age of 69, looks back over his life and tries to make sense of it through listening to tape recordings he made as a younger man, recordings which diarise the daily events of his life.  

John McAndrew of the Royal Shakespeare Company praised the production as “Just terrific…brilliant, outrageous, and heartbreaking,” as it continues to captivate audiences worldwide. 

The Birmingham Press has described Channing’s production as “a complete stunner – everything comes down to the acting and, in the case of Krapp’s Last Tape, to the ability of one man to hold the stage. Westhead, intense and compelling, and returning to the theatre after several years of absence, looked as if he had never been away.” 

All profits from this production will be donated to The Wembley to Soweto Foundation (https://www.wembleytosoweto.com/communitiesinfocus/.)

I have to admit a personal connection with this production, as David and I co-founded the Foundation in 2010, a charity set up to help, encourage and nurture young people from troubled and disadvantaged backgrounds all over the world. The Foundation provides practical experiences and unique opportunities, helping to train young people in different styles of photography, film making and life skills, experiences these young people would normally never have been offered. By donating all profits to The Foundation, the production demonstrates the transformative power of theatre to connect communities whilst supporting meaningful charitable initiatives. 

So please come to the Kino on 13 November, to experience a powerful theatrical production as well as supporting a great charity that has helped so many young people all over the world.

Please click below to purchase tickets:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/kinoteatr/krapp-s-last-tape-live-theatre/e-zejeby

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