A soprano will swap the stage for a spotlight this September in a rare theatrical debut.
Acclaimed British singer Claire Booth will perform Samuel Beckett’s intense monologue Not I at the Minghella Studios in Reading on September 19 and 20, as part of the 2026 Samuel Beckett Biennale.
The piece will be directed by Sir Rufus Norris, former artistic director and chief executive of the National Theatre.
Ms Booth said: "Delving into Beckett's extraordinary monodrama, Not I, through its profound musicality, has been a revelation.
"I am deeply grateful to Sean Doran for his faith in me and for inviting a singer's perspective on this remarkable work.
"Under the expert guidance of Rufus Norris, we have uncovered something truly operatic in Not I's emotional scope, shaped by one woman's dogged resolve to ‘try something else’ think on something else’."
Conceived by Beckett as a work that would “work on the nerves of the audience”, Not I is a rapid, fragmented monologue delivered by a single performer known only as “Mouth”, who speaks from complete darkness with only the actor's mouth illuminated.
The piece was famously performed by Billie Whitelaw, Beckett’s collaborator and muse, whose archive is also held at the University of Reading.
This will be the first time that a virtuosic singer will bring their skills to Beckett’s rapid, babbling monologue, with the performance curated by Arts Over Borders as part of the wider Biennale programme.
Sir Norris said: "I have always been terrified of Beckett.
"There is something so open and yet so unforgivingly precise in his writing, and this is never more so than in Not I.
"The text is everything and any attempt at 'understanding' it, in the usual sense, risks compromising its utter integrity.
"Charting a course through it has been a profound lesson in trust and humility.
"To do so with Claire, however, has been a joy.
"Her rigour and precision, borne of her complete musical control, has enabled us to find both footholds and a bespoke palette within the vertiginous face of Beckett’s sensory assault.
"It is a masterpiece in miniature, compellingly untameable and poetically, viscerally transcendent."
The event will unfold across three rooms in the Anthony Minghella Studios and will begin with Ms Booth’s performance of Sequenza III by Luciano Berio, a vocal work that shares similarities with Beckett’s monologue.
A conversation between Ms Booth and Sir Norris will follow, along with a selected reading and the final performance of Not I.
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