Happy Days
Written by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Jade King Carroll
Produced by Brave New World Repertory Theatre
Loading Dock Theatre, 170 Tillary Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
September 17 to October 3, 2026
Photo credit by Genevieve Targoni
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the Loading Dock Theatre was how profoundly different the space felt. This stage was once someone's bedroom, converted into a theater, and I was shocked to learn that the people who built it still live in the apartment. It amazed me that someone could get that creative with a New York City apartment and turn it into a stage. By the end of the night, the bedroom felt like the perfect setting for a play about the quiet, private struggles of growing old.
Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, which premiered in New York in 1961, centers on Winnie, a woman who greets every day with relentless cheer while buried in a mound of earth. From what I understood, the play explores the challenges of a woman aging, and it handles them with humor instead of heaviness. Winnie fills her days with small rituals, pulling items from her bag and reminding herself, and us, that it is a good day. Her husband, Willie, stays mostly behind her, answering rarely and often forgetting. She is forgiving of him and keeps her optimism no matter what.
The details were where the play got to me. At one point, Winnie put on her glasses to read the fine print on her toothbrush, and when she still could not see it, she picked up a magnifying glass. Even then, she struggled. It was a small moment, but it captured one of the many challenges the we face as time passes. Alongside it, I noticed how hard she worked to connect with Willie, who was growing old himself.
Then came the gun. When it appeared from Winnie's purse, I was so surprised that I did not know what to think. For a second, I believed it signaled danger, and that she might actually harm her husband. Nothing like that happened, and Willie stayed alive. Instead, I kept wondering what it symbolized, and I am still wondering. The staging offered other symbols too. In the first part of the play, Winnie had use of her hands, so she could touch, feel, and rearrange her belongings. In the second part, only her head was exposed. Early on, Willie stayed behind her, and she had to strain her neck to acknowledge him. Near the end, he crawled his way to the front of the stage where she could finally see him, and she was amazed. Between the toothbrush, the toothpaste, the glasses, and her responses to her husband, there was so much to decode, and I found it all fascinating.
The casting added another layer. It mattered to me that the two leads Claire Beckman and John Edmond Morgan, are married in real life. I think some of the challenges of aging expressed on stage may connect to challenges the couple face themselves, or that other couples who are married for a long time face in their relationships. Knowing that added flavor to the performance.
What stayed with me most was how optimistic and entertaining the show was. This production did not have special effects and dramatic lighting. It was a woman fixed in one position, and it was still immensely entertaining. Willie was just as entertaining. The symbols and vernacular forced me not only to pay attention but to search for deeper meanings. Whenever I looked around, no one was sleeping, and the whole audience was so engaged that they seemed to be on the edge of their seats.
The experience was unlike a Broadway show, which tends to be structured and systematic. This felt like walking into someone's home, no pun intended. At intermission, we formed a simple line while the hosts opened the fridge they use for their own apartment and handed out refreshments. There was no concessions for drinks and a snack, only a home being generous with its guests. Access was another difference. The setting allowed me to speak with Beckman and Morgan and congratulate them on how amazing the play was. It was a unique part of the night, and I truly cherished it.
If you remember one thing about this production, let it be how well it was done. The converted bedroom, the married leads, the all women cast, and the chance to congratulate the actors in person came together into something intimate and unforgettable. A play about carrying on through a good day, staged inside a place where people actually live, made the message feel real. I left excited to see what these two actors do next.
Review by Nickson Frederick
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on 10/07/2026. All rights reserved.
