Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Opinionist: <em>Krapp 39</em>
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 8, 2009
Modified Feb 8, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 8, 2009
Modified Feb 8, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Krapp 39 really should be unbearable. Who's up for an 80 minute solo show about some frustrated actor dude's pre-midlife crisis, written and performed by that very same soi-disant artiste? But Michael Laurence's play, which won the award for Outstanding Solo Show at the 2008 Fringe Festival, is a work of brave and vulnerable beauty that succeeds despite its seemingly off-putting subject matter. That Laurence somehow coaxes the audience to care about and even identify with a floundering New York theater actor speaks volumes about his warmth and charm—which is doubly impressive considering he usually gets cast as the homeless drifter.
The one-act takes its title and inspiration from Beckett's solo play Krapp's Last Tape, which concerns a man, alone on his 69th birthday, listening to an audiotape he recorded when he was 39. The themes are isolation, squalor, bitterness, lust, to which Laurence adds insecurity, anxiety, and, refreshingly, flashes of hope. Alone on stage in front of a desk cluttered with personal artifacts from his life, Laurence's objective is to create a time capsule for some thirty years in the future, when he imagines himself as either a triumphant star appearing at London's Royal Court, or washed up in a shabby Florida hotel while performing King Lear for retirees.
Maybe that sounds bleak, but it's not; the well-paced production at Soho Playhouse is speckled with self-deprecating humor and thoughtful considerations on time and aging. Laurence has a distinctly off-kilter presence—Crispin Glover by way of Charlie Kaufman—and his manic reminiscences of his dissolute experiences in the Giuliani-era downtown theater scene are surprisingly transporting. Using simulcast video, raw journal entries, old letters, cringe-worthy confessions, and recorded phone conversations, he assembles a delicate collage of hyper-aware frustration that's very personal, yet somehow, almost miraculously, not annoying.
Tagged
best
fringe
krapp 39
Michael Laurence
new york
nyc
review
soho playhouse
theater
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Published Oct 8, 2026
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
If you're playing tourist in your own town, this is an in-demand option.
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Banned books and Winnie the Pooh: October in NYC libraries
By
Alec Hamilton
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .