A Play Inspired by a Radio Voice

Samuel Beckett wrote his famous play Krapp’s Last Tape after falling in love with a stranger's voice on the radio. He heard actor Patrick Magee reading on the BBC and was so moved he immediately wrote a role specifically for him.

Beckett was captivated by the unique gravelly tone of Magee’s voice during a late-night broadcast. He originally titled the work Magee Monologue to honor the inspiration behind the script. This one-act play features a man listening to recordings of his own younger voice on magnetic tape. It remains a poignant exploration of how we interact with our own shifting memories over time.