All That Fall Samuel Beckett [German]

All That Fall by Samuel Becket [German] Alle, die da fallen TRANSLATION: Erika and Elmar Tophoven DIRECTOR: Fritz Schröder-Jahn PRODUCTION: Norddeutscher Rundfunk / Süddeutscher Rundfunk DESCRIPTION: The famous first radio play Samuel, commissioned by the BBC in 1956 In contrast to his later works, Becketts shows an almost realistic framework for action. Mrs. Rooney, "a hysterical old woman shattered by grief, fat and rheumatism and childlessness", drags herself down the hot, dusty country road to collect her sick blind husband from the train. Her walk is like a way of the cross through a life that knows nothing but suffering and sterility. When she finally reaches the station, the train is delayed, which no one can explain at first. Finally the train arrives, and with it blind Dan, who has a useless office in town where he deals with absurd balance sheets. Nevertheless, he undertakes the arduous journey in order not to spend the whole day with his wife. The train was late. Only gradually does she elicit the reason from her husband: A child has fallen off the train. But that's not the whole truth ... Together, the two torment their way back. In their desperation they burst into wild laughter at the promise of the 145th Psalm, from which the radio play title is borrowed: "The Lord preserves all who fall and raises all those who are down." The radio play becomes a metaphor for a path through life between desolation and hope. CAST: Mrs. Rooney - Tilla Durieux | Mr. Rooney - Eduard Marks | Christy - Werner Schumacher | Mr.Slocum - Siegfried Lowitz | Tommy - Charles Brewer | Mr. Barrell - Erich Weiher | Miss Fitt - Gerda Schöneich | Jerry - Nikolaus von Festenberg | a woman - Anna Blask Private archive of Winfried Noack About the 1957 BBC Radio Production https://publiclistenings.wordpress.com/2015-inner-voices-inner-worlds/all-that-fall/

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.