September 10-27, 2026

Theatre Exile

1340-48 S. 13th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19147

“…a profound, sombre, paradoxical joy…”

--The Sunday Times of London

“…confirmed my growing conviction that Beckett is the greatest dramatist to use the English language since Shakespeare.”

--The Independent

Join us in celebration of the IRC’s 20th anniversary with the absurdist classic that Beckett referred to as his own personal favorite.

Endgame perfects the unity of form and content: four survivors of an unknown catastrophe – a man who can’t sit down, a man who can’t stand up, and two amputees in trash cans – perform an endless cycle of meaningless rituals as they await the end.

Described as a “…magnificent theatrical experience…” and identifying it as a hauntingly powerful work of art rather than a piece of political or moral propaganda, Sir Harold Hobson, writing for The Sunday Times of London, was one of the few prominent British theatre critics who fiercely championed Samuel Beckett’s work when it debuted, facing widespread derision.

Originally written in French and translated into English by Beckett himself, it is considered by many critics to be his best.

Featuring:

John Zak

David Bardeen

Bob Schmidt

Tina Ann Brock

Directed by Tina Ann Brock

Costume & Scenic Design: Erica Hoelscher

Lighting Design: Tydell Williams

Stage Management: Ella Namour

The mission of the IRC is to bring the classics of absurdist and absurdist-adjacent theatre to an international audience within the Philadelphia region. We are dedicated to presenting rarely produced, renowned plays that explore and illuminate the human purpose, creating a dialogue with the audience about the relevance and impact of the human condition in our contemporary world.

We are committed to creating theater that is intelligent and thought-provoking. Through performances that are ironic, buoyant, and infectious, the work is designed to displace and transform the audience’s perspective, using language in combination with an entire sensory experience to express ideas that words alone cannot convey. With our dedicated group of artists, we strive to immerse the audience in this process - not just the plot - to ask questions about human existence that resonate and then detonate within each individual.