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''Rockaby'' is a short one-woman play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English in 1980, at the request of Daniel Labeille, who produced it on behalf of ''Programs in the Arts'', State University of New York, for a festival and symposium in commemoration of Beckett's 75th birthday. The play premiered on April 8, 1981 at the State University of New York at Buffalo, starring Billie Whitelaw and directed by Alan Schneider. A documentary film, ''Rockaby'', by D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus records the rehearsal process and the first performance. This production went on to be performed at the Annex at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club,〔(La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club official web site )〕 and, in December 1982, at the Cottesloe, Royal National Theatre, London. == Synopsis == A woman dressed in an evening gown is sitting in a wooden rocking chair; no other props or scenery are called for. She sits totally still until the very end of the play. The chair apparently starts and stops “rocking of its own accord, since her feet are visible on its footrest. The motion creates a ghostly atmosphere.”〔Ackerley, C. J. and Gontarski, S. E., (Eds.) ''The Faber Companion to Samuel Beckett'', (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), pp 484,485〕 The woman (W) is described in the notes as “Prematurely old. Unkempt grey hair. Huge eyes in white expressionless face.”〔Beckett, S., ''Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p 273〕 Beckett is equally specific when it comes to the gown: “Black lacy high-necked … Long sleeves. Jet sequins … Incongruous headdress set with extravagant trimming to catch the light.”〔 As she rocks she hears a “dull, expressionless”〔Specified only in the later French version. Referenced in Hale, J. A., ‘Perspective in ''Rockaby''’ in Davis, R. J. and Butler, L. St J., (Eds.) ''‘Make Sense Who May’: Essays on Samuel Beckett’s Later Works'' (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988), p 160 n 8〕 pre-recorded voice (V) – her own – recount details from her own life, and that of her dead mother’s, in what Eric Brater describes as “a performance poem in the shape of a play.”〔Brater, E., ‘Light, Sound, Movement and Action in Beckett’s ''Rockaby''’ in ''Modern Drama'' 25 (Sept 1982), p 345〕 “The French title, ''Berceuse'', means both ‘rocking chair’ and ‘lullaby’, while the English ''Rockaby'' refers to a traditional lullaby in which a baby’s cradle falls from a treetop, thus bring together in one song the images of birth and death which are so often juxtaposed in Beckett.”〔Hale, J. A., ‘Perspective in ''Rockaby''’ in Davis, R. J. and Butler, L. St J., (Eds.) ''‘Make Sense Who May’: Essays on Samuel Beckett’s Later Works'' (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988), p 66〕 Both a traditional cradle and a rocking chair have rockers. “()he synchrony of the rocking motion and the dimeter verse line – one back-and-forth per line – plays against the recorded narrative.”〔Cohn, R., ''Back to Beckett'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), p 360〕 To achieve this effect Billie Whitelaw was encouraged by Beckett to “‘think of it as a lullaby’ which she interpreted as ‘soft, monotonous, no colour, soothing, rhythmic … () drive toward death.”〔Gussow, M., ''Conversations with and about Beckett'' (New York: Grove Press, 1996) p 88〕 The play can be broken down into four sections. All begin with the childlike demand, “More” (consider Oliver Twist’s request for more gruel). Billie Whitelaw pronounced it more like ‘maw’ – a pun – “to suggest a need for nourishment.”〔Doll, M. A., ‘Walking and Rocking: Ritual Acts in ''Footfalls'' and ''Rockaby''’ in Davis, R. J. and Butler, L. St J., (Eds.) ''‘Make Sense Who May’: Essays on Samuel Beckett’s Later Works'' (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988), p 46〕 or even “Ma”.〔Doll, M. A., ‘The Demeter Myth in Beckett’ in ''Journal of Beckett Studies'' Nos 11 and 12〕 Intermittently, she joins in three of the lines: ‘time she stopped’, ‘living soul’ and ‘rock her off’”〔Knowlson, J., ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p 662〕 at which point the rocking stops and only starts again when she demands “More,” each time a little softer than the time before. The fact that time play begins with this word indicates that this scene has been being played out for some time before this. At the end of the final section the woman fails to join in with the voice, the rocking ceases and the woman’s head slowly inclines; “she has apparently died.”〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rockaby」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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