A major exhibition on Samuel Beckett’s engagement with the medium of television is currently running at the Württembergischer Kunstverein in Stuttgart. Über Fernsehen, Beckett is a multimedia exhibition co-curated by Gerard Byrne and Judith Wilkinson. Inspired by Beckett’s direct engagement with the television channel Süddeutscher Rundfunk, the exhibition presents for the first time together all seven groundbreaking television plays that Beckett produced between 1966 and 1985 for the station: He Joe (1966), Geistertrio (1977), … nur noch Gewölk … (1977), Quadrat I (1981), Quadrat II (1981), Nacht und Träume (1982) and Was Wo (1985). It also shows Beckett’s television version of his play Not I (1975), produced for the BBC, which was broadcast by SDR on 1 November 1977 together with Geistertrio and … nur noch Gewölk … under the title “Schatten” (Shadows).
In addition to the eight television plays, which are shown as video projections in four cinema/theater-like rooms, Über Fernsehen, Beckett includes numerous previously unpublished documents on Beckett’s stays in Stuttgart and his work at the SDR. These are presented in the form of an essay-based frieze based on photographs from archives in Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Reading (UK).
Über Fernsehen, Beckett runs until 12 January 2025. Full details here.
The Samuel Beckett Society 