Come and Go

Come and Go
Written by	Samuel Beckett
Characters	Flo, Vi, Ru
Date premiered	14 January 1966
Place premiered	Schiller-Theater Werkstatt, Berlin
Original language	English
Setting	Non-specific

Come and Go is a short play (described as a "dramaticule" on its title page) by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English in January 1965 and first performed (in German) at the Schillertheater, Berlin on 14 January 1966. Its English language premiere was at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin on 28 February 1966, and its British premiere was at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 9 December 1968. It was written for and dedicated to the publisher John Calder.

Some critics consider this one of Beckett's most "perfect" plays: Beckett agonized over each individual line until they exactly matched his creative vision. The play varies between "121 and 127 words" in length, depending on the translation (his notes are significantly longer than the actual play), and as such is rarely performed on its own.

The play opens with three similar figures of "indeterminable" age, Flo, Vi, and Ru, sitting quietly on a narrow bench like seat surrounded by darkness. They are childhood friends who once attended "Miss Wade's" together and sitting side by side in this manner is something they used to do in the playground back then. The three characters – unusually for Beckett – wear colourful full-length coats, albeit now dulled over time; they are effectively three faded flowers. "Drab nondescript hats … shade [their] faces."

Vi's opening line recalls the Three Witches of Shakespeare's Macbeth: "When did we three last meet?" ("When shall we three meet again?" - Macbeth: Act 1, Scene 1). "Their names, especially Ru's, recall the names of the flowers which Ophelia distributes to King Claudius and his court in her mad scene" (Hamlet - Act 4, Scene 5).

When together they make uneasy small talk. After a short time Vi, who is seated in the centre, rises and silently goes off stage. Once she is out of earshot Flo asks Ru how she thinks their absent friend is looking. "I see little change," Ru replies. Then Flo slides over to the middle to whisper an awful revelation to the other and swears her to secrecy. After this Vi returns and takes the seat vacated by Flo. The same scenario is then enacted twice more "[w]ith choreography suggestive of the sleight-of-hand artist (button under the thimble)" and with very similar dialogue until Vi finds herself back in the middle of the group; Ru and Flo's positions have however been reversed.

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