#failbetter

Abstract

Recalling Beckett's treatment of failure ( Three Dialogues, 1949; Worstward Ho, 1983), this article considers ‘fidelity to failure’ as a performative and political issue. In dealing with both the aesthetics and ethics of Beckett's failure, the article is informed by recent publications and events within the field ( Kenny ; Morin ; Maprayil; 2020 ). These interventions build upon a body of literature on Beckett ( McMullan, 1994 ; Calder, 2001 ; Anderton, 2016 ; Thomas, 2018) and culture ( Bersani and Dutoit, 1993 ; Ridout, 2006 ; Bailes, 2011 ; Halberstam, 2011 ). The article examines the phenomenon of failure within Beckettian production and wider ethical implications surrounding the (mis)appropriations of ‘failing better’. Having established the uses – and misuses – of this phrase, the article proceeds in three interlinked parts: a) experimental failure in the theatre work, from Beckett's own practice of generative failure in rehearsals (e.g. Play, 1964; dir. Devine) through to his legacy in experimental theatre cultures; b) performance more broadly, including intersections with disability culture (e.g. Not I, 2017; dir. Pountney) and public acts of failure within contemporary politics, from Brexit in Europe to the US Presidential Election; c) communities that enact Beckett's writing online, intersecting with the ‘queer art of failure’ ( Halberstam, 2011 ) and Black Lives Matter ( West, 2020 ).