David Neilson as Hamm and Chris Gascoyne as Clov in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame at Citizens Theatre. Photo by Tim Morozzo.

On Thursday night I had the pleasure of seeing David Neilson and Chris Gascoyne in Beckett’s Endgame at the Citizens Theatre. Thursday was the first preview, and while Beckett isn’t normally my cup of tea, I was there in the audience because I am going to be delivering a Just Go workshop for the production with S5/6 pupils at King’s Park Secondary next week.

Just Go is an initiative funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation that seeks to engage fifth and sixth year pupils in the work of the theatre. Students get to see 3 Citizens Theatre Company productions during the year and each comes with an introductory workshop. I’ve worked on a number of the workshops in the past – 1984, The Slab Boys and Rapunzel – and I love that I get to be a part of a project that enables young people to access theatre, many for the first time.

But I have to say, this play feels like the biggest challenge so far. We had a team meeting on Friday to plan the session and, somewhat unexpectedly, I left feeling really excited about Tuesday’s workshop. I mentioned before that Beckett is not my normal choice for a night at the theatre; I would usually favour something more narrative-based. But as we discussed our research and our thoughts on Friday, I found myself falling in love with the complexity and genius of Beckett’s work. Here’s hoping on Tuesday I can ignite that spark in at least some of the young people in my workshop!

Endgame runs at the Citizens Theatre until 20th February and you can book tickets here.