Like an existentialist footballer, Michael Pinchbeck trains for weeks, gets into the mindset required for his part, wears his costume for one limelight moment – but finds himself repeating the same dissatisfied, hackneyed words, “At the end of the day, I didn’t perform.” ‘The End’ is not really the end, but rather a warm-up for his final premiership, his dramatic swansong. It is a humorous, albeit sometimes clichéd and repetitive, exploration of what stage entrances and exits mean for Shakespeare’s most side-line character: ‘The Winter’s Tale’s’ bear. Ridiculous yet rational, Pinchbeck and co-star Ollie Smith channel the spirit of Beckett as their relationship disintegrates. Let’s hope this isn’t their swansong.

Pleasance Courtyard, 22 – 27 Aug, 11.25am (12.30pm), £8.00 – £10.00, fpp259.
tw rating 4/5
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