One way to describe Midnight Tattoos is a romantic comedy, but that seems reductive and totally misses the mark. Another way to describe this play is a ‘love letter’ to Samuel Beckett, which has some merit but again, doesn’t quite tell the full story… Written by Philip Landon and directed by Olivia Munk, Midnight Tattoos begins with Michael (Andrew Laithwaite) and Suzy (Angelina Chudi) looking for the grave of Beckett during one cold Sunday morning in Paris. At this juncture we’re not 100% certain how well they really know each other. However, what we do know is Michael is enamoured with Beckett and it is his idea to take this ‘pilgrimage’.

While Michael’s reverence of Beckett verges on treating him as a secular saint, Suzy’s opinion is more circumspect – an ‘agnostic’ if you will. This brings us to an important point: you don’t need to know or be a fan of Beckett to appreciate this play. Suzy in many ways represents all those who aren’t Beckett’s ‘acolytes’ (to use her own phrase) – who is able to assess his legacy ‘objectively’.

There is a mysterious third character who is present during much of the play. Unseen by the principal characters, the ‘prisoner’ (Jeremy Hancock) nevertheless observes them and can exert some influence over what they say or do next. Ultimately, the audience will find out his identity, but half the fun in the play is trying to figure out who he is. Even then, this knowledge doesn’t explain ‘everything’, but builds upon the notion that everything is connected, with a sprinkling of Hamlet’s “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

But I digress.

The rest of the play deals with the ‘fictions’ that both Michael and Suzy tell each other, plus the things Beckett has in common with Johnny Cash (yes, you read that right)…

Going to see a new play can be a bit of a crapshoot – always a bit risky to see something ‘untried’, unknown. But in the case of Midnight Tattoos, I can say without fear of hyperbole or embellishment, that there is nothing playing in London quite like it at the moment – striking a delicate balance between meta commentary, intellectual ideas and heart.

© Michael Davis 2024

Midnight Tattoos runs at Drayton Arms Theatre until 13th July.