Krapp's Last Tape

Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape is one of the most stripped-back and quietly devastating pieces in the theatrical canon - a single actor, a desk, a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and about fifty minutes that stay with you long after the lights come up. St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre in Listowel is an ideal setting for it: an intimate 150-seat converted Gothic church where the acoustics are close and nothing can hide. If you have never seen a Beckett play live, this is a good place to start; if you have, you will know why it keeps getting revived.

What to expect

The play puts one elderly man, Krapp, on stage on his sixty-ninth birthday. He pulls out a tape he recorded thirty years earlier and listens to his younger self - confident, driven, certain of the life ahead. What follows is a slow, tragicomic reckoning with who he was and what he chose. There is no plot in the conventional sense; the drama lives in the gap between the voice on the tape and the man now sitting in the dark listening to it. Beckett gives the actor almost nothing to work with, which means every pause and every gesture carries weight. Expect silence used as a dramatic tool, flashes of dark humour, and a running time of roughly fifty minutes with no interval. It is not a light night out, but it is a memorable one.

Getting there

Listowel sits in north Kerry, about 27 km north of Tralee on the N69. From Tralee, the drive is around 25 minutes. From Limerick, take the N21 south-west - allow about an hour. Bus Eireann operates services into Listowel from Tralee and from Limerick (Route 14); check schedules on the Bus Eireann website, as evening return times vary. St. John’s Theatre is right on The Square in the centre of town, so you will not miss it. Street parking is available around the square and on nearby roads; it is generally easy to find on a Wednesday evening.

While you’re in Listowel

Listowel has a strong literary tradition - it hosts the annual Listowel Writers’ Week in late May and is the birthplace of writers including John B. Keane, whose plays are still performed regularly in the region. The town square is lined with painted shopfronts and is pleasant to walk around before a show. There is more to see in Listowel and across Co. Kerry.

Good to know

• Date: Wednesday 2 September 2026, 8:00pm
• Price: From €15
• Booking: stjohnstheatre.ticketsolve.com or by phone on 068 22566
• Venue: St. John’s Theatre & Arts Centre, The Square, Listowel, Co. Kerry
• Running time approximately 50 minutes, no interval