D. K. ALSOP - Textual Variants in Cascando: An Argument for a Scholarly Edition

D . K . A L S O P

Textual Variants in Cascando: AnArgument for a Scholarly Edition

Some recent editions of Samuel Becketts works have been well-served by the textual scholarship of experts in the field. ChrisAckerleys edition of Watt is a case in point. He acknowledgesthat for the first six decades of its existence (as manuscript andbook) the text of Watt has been a mess (Ackerley in Beckett, 2009a,vii). His comment directly echoes Becketts own concern. StanleyGontarski writes:

It is no small irony that for a writer so punctilious about histexts [. . .] Samuel Becketts work has been subject to so muchinept editing and so many publication blunders that he couldlament to his official biographer, James Knowlson, my textsare in a terrible mess. (Gontarski, 190)

Ackerley approaches the problems of Watt with typical rigour,using the original Grove edition as the best template and theGrove Press Centenary edition as by far the most accurate text(Ackerley in Beckett, 2009a, xix). Most interesting, in Ackerleys

Journal of Beckett Studies 22.1 (2013): 134Edinburgh University PressDOI: 10.3366/jobs.2013.0056 The editors, Journal of Beckett Studieswww.euppublishing.com/jobs

2 J O U R N A L O F B E C K E T T S T U D I E S

Preface, is the acknowledgement of deeply rooted error in thetextual history of Watt, with his illustration of exemplary problemsand the editorial criteria he has used to resolve them. Havingmade his decisions and explained his method, though, there is stillsomething wanting:

What is needed, still, is a critical edition of Watt, one thatdoes justice to its textual variants and evolutionary history byrecording the alternatives so that their relative weightings maybe debated. (Ackerley in Beckett, 2009a, xix)

The point is compelling. A complete scholarly edition wouldoffer all readers, through full annotation and commentary, theopportunity to make their own, informed, judgements aboutthe variants. The more perplexed the textual history, the morenecessary a variorum edition, and Ackerley has shown that Wattclearly deserves (and even demands) this treatment. But other textsare in need of the same approach, with the same justification.Cascando is certainly one such work.1

Not all recent editions of Beckett have been as meticulous orinformative as Ackerleys Watt. Though not described as an editor,Everett Frost, the author of the Preface and Notes to the 2009Faber and Faber edition of Becketts All That Fall and Other Playsfor Radio and Screen, gives the following comment on editions ofCascando:

First published in English in the authors translation inEvergreen Review (May-June 1963). The same text subsequentlyappears in Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces (GrovePress 1969). First published by Faber, March 1964, in Play, andtwo short pieces for radio (the other being Words and Music).There are a number of minor variations between this text andthe text as published in The Collected Shorter Plays (Faber, GrovePress 1984) and The Complete Dramatic Works (Faber, GrovePress 1986). The BBC production has minor divergences fromboth published versions. (Frost in Beckett, 2009b, 17677)

Textual Variants in Cascando 3

This is an incomplete synopsis of the complex publication historyof this short play for radio; and the attribution that couples Faberwith Grove Press (correctly for the 1984 and 1986 collections),might suggest a broad agreement between editions published inAmerica and in England, which would be misleading. The firstEnglish translation of the French original was indeed in EvergreenReview, Volume 7, Number 30, May-June, 1963. That the copyrightfor that journal was held by Grove Press makes it logical that thefirst Grove edition should use the same text. But Frost is silentabout the major (important) variants to be found between theEvergreen translation of 1963 and the first Faber edition of 1964, anda number of (both important and trivial) errors in the latter. Thereare indeed a number of minor variations between the first andsubsequent Faber editions, because there were obvious correctionsto be made, but there remain more important variations betweenthe Evergreen translation and all Faber editions of the play.

An overview of the play will place the variants in context. Cas-cando particularly emphasises the importance of accuracy, as wordsand chamber ensemble both try to say precisely what has to besaid. The Opener calls on both Voice and Music separatelyand together to try to tell the story of the character Woburn(Maunu in the French original). Like so many of Becketts otherstorytellers, Voice hopes that this will be the last story, the rightone: if only he could tell the story of Woburn then perhaps he willhave finished and be able to rest, to sleep there will be no morewords to speak. Woburn, after a long life, waits for night andheads off on a journey, with the sea to his right and the hills to hisleft. Voice desperately tries to follow, anxious not to lose him andhis final story. Woburn stumbles on his way, holding on to the bankof a slope, but falling spread-eagled, face-down, into the mud. Heremembers a cave and heads on again through dunes, where againhe falls. Past the dunes he reaches a zone of stones, where he fallsonce more, but gets up and heads off one more time. We then findhim out at sea in a useless boat, drifting hopefully or hopelesslytowards the safe haven of an island, clinging on. As the story de-velops there is an added urgency, but all ends with further urging:

were there . . . nearly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


. . . just a few more . . . dont let go . . . Woburn . . . he clings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .on . . . come on . . . come on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[Silence.] (Beckett, Cascando, 1984, 144)2

As with so many of Becketts works, there is an urgent need tofind the right words: the story must be exactly and accurately told,if there is to be any rest.

Unfortunately, there are a number of obvious inaccuracies in theFaber first edition of the play (1964). Where the earlier Evergreenedition (1963a) has follow him (Beckett, 1963a, 48) the Faber givesfollow him him (Beckett, 1964, 40); where Evergreen gives vaguememory . . . in his head of a cave (1963a, 49), Faber has vaguememory . . . in his head . . . a of cave (1964, 41); for EvergreensIve got him . . . Ive seen him (1963a, 53) we have Fabers Ivegot him . . . Ive see him (1964, 45); the straightforward Evergreenversion just a few more . . . a few more . . . Im there (1963a, 56)becomes Fabers error just a few more . . . a more . . . Im there(1964, 48).

In a text of a mere ten pages, those involved in producing theFaber edition were remarkably inattentive. The role of Becketthimself is uncertain. All correspondence shows that Faber, Grove,and others were fully aware of Becketts authority over his texts.3

The Faber and Faber publication of Play (including Cascando) wasdelayed again and again, as Beckett would not pass the proofs,according to Charles Monteith, until the work had been throughrehearsal, Beckett seeing production as crucially influential for hisfinal thoughts.

These four errors are trivial, having no significant impact onmeaning, and all were corrected by the 1984 Faber edition ofCollected Shorter Plays. Also corrected was a crucial first-editionFaber error:

OPENER: (with VOICE), And I close.(Silence.)I open the door. (Beckett, 1964, 40)


This is a bizarre mistake. Openers attempt to tell the storyinvolves opening with Voice, closing Voice, and then openingthe other, Music. Two pages later, after another contributionfrom Voice, the Faber gets it right (confirming the earlier error)with:

OPENER: (with VOICE). And I close.Silence.I open the other. (Beckett, 1964, 42)

The inconsistency of parenthesis around Silence shows that evenmatters of house style are not consistent in this edition. I open thedoor, though, suggests a complete misreading of Cascando. Theearlier Evergreen translation has the correct wording. In fact, thereis only one obvious (and trivial) error in the Evergreen: it the rightone, for its the right one (Beckett, 1963a, 49).4 Of the two texts,any Beckett scholar would think the Evergreen more reliable thanthe Faber. So its not surprising that the pioneering bibliographersof Becketts work, Federman and Fletcher, should seem to favourthe former. They note, in their indispensable Samuel Beckett: HisWork and His Critics:

The variants in 383.2 [the 1964 Faber edition], especiallyp. 40, l. 8, I open the door, seem to be misprints; thisparticular sentence reads I open the other in 383, p. 48[the Evergreen edition]. (Mr. Beckett has confirmed that thisparticular reading is a mistake.) (Federman and Fletcher, 86)

Becketts acknowledgement about this important detail givesauthority to Federman and Fletchers assumption about allthe misprints. Whether misprints or mistaken readings thesuggestion is that the errors were not Becketts own failures ofproofing, though there is no evidence to confirm this.

Federman and Fletcher reasonably conclude that the BBC wouldhave used the more reliable Evergreen as their edition for the firstradio production in Britain of Cascando: The BBC broadcast ofthis play [. . .] followed the 383 [the Evergreen] text (Federman and


Fletcher, 86). Later, Fletcher and Beryl S. Fletcher revised this viewfor A Students Guide to the Plays of Samuel Beckett, noting that:

The BBC broadcast [. . .] followed a text intermediate betweenthat printed in the Evergreen Review and that published byFaber and Faber in 1964. (Fletcher and Fletcher, 174)

Neither position is quite right. A more accurate statement thaneither would be that the BBC broadcast follows the Faber text,correcting obvious errors (and so seeming to follow the Evergreenwhich lacked these errors) and showing knowledge of the Evergreentext in two brief variations.5 One of these variations follows theEvergreen verbatim for the following text:

Ill finish it . . . then rest . . . its the right one . . . this time I haveit . . . Ive got it . . . Woburn (Beckett, 1963a, 47)

The Faber reads: Ill finish it . . . Ive got it . . . Woburn (Beckett,1964, 39). The longer Evergreen/BBC version, here, correspondsclosely to the French original:

je vais la finir. . . je serai tranquille. . . cest la bonne. . . cette foisje la tiens. . . cette fois jy suis. . . Maunu (Beckett, 1963b, 340)6

There is only one occasion when the texts seem to merge in theBBC production, which has:

dont give up [pause] this time [pause] its the right one[pause] were there [pause] nearly [pause] Im there (Beckett,2006a)

This conflates Evergreens dont give up . . . it [sic] the rightone . . . were there . . . nearly . . . Im there (Beckett, 1963a, 49), withFabers dont give up . . . this time . . . its the right one . . . werethere . . . Im there (Beckett, 1964, 41). The Evergreen, again,corresponds to the French at this point (ignoring the misprint):ne pas lcher. . . cest la bonne. . . a y est. . . presque. . . jy suis(Beckett, 1963b, 340).


Despite the BBCs and Fabers later corrections to the Faberfirst edition, errors have a habit of hanging on. All Faber editionssubsequent to the first retain what seems to be an original Fabererror. In the Evergreen edition, after a contribution by Mihalovicismodernist musical score, Opener, now with Music, comments:Good God (Beckett, 1963a, 55). This could be seen as an ironicremark, an expression of astonishment the idea that the difficultabstract language of Music can tell the definitive story of Woburnleaves Opener nonplussed. After another musical interjection,and a silence, Opener adds: Good God good God. This is astraightforward translation from the French:

Silence.Musique Ouvreur avec Musique: Bon Dieu.Musique Silence.Ouvreur Bon Dieu bon Dieu. (Beckett, 1963b, 356)

The first Faber edition gives God for the first Good God (notnecessarily an error, possibly just a variant), and then God God(almost certainly an error) for Good God, good God (Beckett, 1964,47).7 This apparent misprint was retained for the BBC production,Denys Hawthorne, in the role of Opener, having to utter theprofound (distinctly un-Beckettian) God God as if in a tranceof revelation. This variant was retained in Fabers 1984 CollectedShorter Plays and the 1986 The Complete Dramatic Works, and is stillthere in the 2009 Faber version, which follows the 1984/1986 textsthroughout (Beckett, 2009, 91).

And through this 1984/1986 Faber route, the same mistake foundits way into some later Grove editions of the play. Grove, havingfinancially supported the innovative and adventurous EvergreenReview, had the rights over the first English translation of Cascando,a less erroneous version of an original authorial translation thanthe Faber edition (as has been shown by the basic errors). Soit was natural that for their first house publication of the textin 1968 they should follow their own edition. But Grove lateradopted the Faber text for their 1984 Collected Shorter Plays and1986 The Complete Dramatic Works (hence Frosts coupling Faber,


Grove Press). It would seem, then, that Grove had abandonedtheir own Evergreen translation. But actually the situation is morecomplex, as Grove allowed the two different English versions tocontinue to appear under their various imprints. They had usedthe Evergreen version in their collection I cant go on, Ill go on:A Selection from Samuel Becketts Work, edited by Richard Seaver,in 1976, and were sticking with it in what was described as theFirst Evergreen Edition of this collection in 1992 (under the GroveWeidenfeld imprint). This edition is still in print, still using theEvergreen translation (now under the Grove Press imprint). AndGrove has also continued to reprint the 1968 Cascando and other shortdramatic pieces, again with the Evergreen translation.

It must be assumed, though, that Grove officially favours theFaber translation, as they used it for the 2006 Grove CentenaryEdition. This fact is clear even in the parenthesis and punctuationof stage directions. All the errors of the first Faber are corrected,but only because they were already corrected in the 1984 CollectedShorter Plays and the 1986 The Complete Dramatic Works. Even thetwo BBC variations, which at least acknowledge the existence ofthe Evergreen, are ignored, as the text follows the later Fabers apartfrom two minor variations of ellipses.

So a strange position has been reached. The original Faberedition, an evidently flawed text, with both basic and importanterrors, has become (after correction) the authorised version,both for Faber and for Grove. Meanwhile the original Englishtranslation, the comparatively clean Evergreen version, a textmuch closer to the French than the Faber and for many yearsthe Grove version, has been marginalised. Grove, though, havecontinued with both versions simultaneously, without commentabout the differences.

The new Faber text of 2009 follows the Faber 1984 CollectedShorter Plays (as reproduced in the 1986 The Complete DramaticWorks. There are only minor changes. There is a new error oflineation, the conventional representation of Music and Voice(where a line of text representing Voice is followed by a line ofdots or dashes representing Music) being, at one point, disrupted(Beckett, 2009, 86, lines 1718). There is also a dropped ellipsis(Beckett, 2009, 89, lines 2628), and there are a number of extraspaces between words. Trivial as these are, the fact is that the


new edition only adds errors to the corrected 1984/1986 Faberversions.

There are, though, more important variants remaining inall Fabers. In comparison with the earliest (Evergreen) Englishtranslation, if the later Faber variants (without the obvious errors)are correct then they at least reveal interesting changes in Beckettsthinking about his play (rather than merely reconsiderations of histranslation from the French). A few examples will prove the point.

There are occasional nuances of interest. The first direction inthe Evergreen edition has Openers voice dry as dust, where Fabergives the less colourful cold (Beckett, 1963a, 47; Faber (Beckett,1964) (and all subsequent Fabers) 39). The confirmation that itis the month of May, on both occasions in the play, is given asthats right in the Evergreen and as the more clinical correct inFaber (Beckett, 1963a, 47 and 53; Beckett, 1964, 39 and 45). TheEvergreen tends to expand phrases, the Faber to contract them. So,the yearning to end the story and rest (a recurrent theme), becomes,in the Evergreen (as we have already seen (its the variant used bythe BBC)): . . . Ill finish it . . . then rest . . . its the right one . . . thistime I have it . . . Ive got it . . . (Beckett, 1963a, 47). In Faber this isabbreviated to . . . Ill finish it . . . Ive got it . . . (Beckett, 1964, 39).The rhythm of the prose is more obvious in the Evergreen: thenrest . . . then sleep rather than Fabers then rest . . . sleep (Beckett,1963a, 47; Beckett, 1964, 39); or you could rest . . . you could sleeprather than you could rest . . . sleep (Beckett, 1963a, 47; Beckett,1964, 39). The Evergreen tends to transliterate the French definitearticle, whereas the Faber sometimes omits it, as in Evergreens theearth is darkening (Beckett, 1963a, 48) for la terre brunit (Beckett,1963b, 342), where Faber gives earth darkening (Beckett, 1964, 39).Similarly, French pronouns are sometimes given in the Evergreenbut not in the Faber, so the repeated la finir becomes finish itin Evergreen, but occasionally just finish in Faber. And there isgenerally more attentiveness to the French in the Evergreen. So theFrench verb branler which means to move off, to set off (asof something weighty, gathering slow pace) in the expression ilsbranle becomes hes off again in Evergreen, but he goes on inFaber.

There are also more obvious variations, particularly affecting thepart of Woburns story where he is pictured out at sea, exposed to


the elements, yearning for the safe haven of an island. The Evergreenenjoys the nautical jargon more than the Faber, giving the boatscudding rather than driving out (Beckett, 1963a, 54; Beckett,1964, 46) (and scudding suggests a rather feeble helplessness,contrasting with the confident driving out). The island is alsoastern . . . far astern in the Evergreen (Beckett, 1963a, 55), but it isgone . . . far astern in the Faber (Beckett, 1964, 46). The Evergreenhas the more threatening vast deep compared to Fabers neutralopen sea (Beckett, 1963a, 55; Beckett, 1964, 46).

There are numerous other variants (see the Appendix for acomprehensive account), but these show the broad differences. TheEvergreen is slightly more expansive, generally closer to the French,and with an occasionally more colourful vocabulary. It is also rathermore poetic, with a slightly more pointed sense of rhythm. TheFaber tends towards slightly greater precision and economy.

In a sense, evaluative judgement of the differences is not themain point. Surely any serious reader (producer or performer)of Beckett would want to know the textual history, and wouldfind the variants interesting. The publication of the latest (2009)Faber and Faber edition of the play represents a lost opportunityto explain that history, if not in full annotation then at least inAppendix Two: Notes on publication and broadcast of individualplays. What was needed, at least, was the kind of detailed accountof editions Gontarski gives in his contribution to the new Faberseries in Krapps Last Tape and Other Shorter Plays (Beckett, 2009c).As it is, all we have in the 2009 Cascando is a Faber version thathasnt changed since 1984/1986, with a couple of additional minorerrors, and no sense of the fascinating and complex textual historyof Becketts pioneering combination of voice and music for radio.

The reader of any one version of Cascando has no detailedinformation about the two distinct lines of textual descent inEnglish (one from the Evergreen Review edition; the other from thefirst Faber edition).

Also, no ordinary reader of Cascando has any access to the music.The music, here, is no mere accompaniment, but has a centralrole, both in conjunction with Voice and in its own separatecommentary.

The exact relationship between the abstract language ofMusic and the story itself is uncertain. The flute and clarinet


passages could be said to provide a tentative narrative line.The strings sometimes col legno (struck with the wood of thebow) and sul pont[icello] (played near the bridge) create afaltering, nervy, counterpoint. A subtle use of percussion (thescore includes suspended cymbal; tam-tam; gong; wood-block;tambour; triangle; Chinese blocks; xylophone and marimba, oftenplayed pianissimo) creates an atmospheric, expectant, mysteriousbackground. Occasionally, as in a glissando figure for the harp, anexpressive celesta passage, and a duet for flute and viola, there isa hopeful gesture of lyricism. There are scalic devices that suggestthe texts gradual descent (into darkness and sleep). And there isan occasional swelling of the strings that might suggest immanentrevelation. The overall impression of the score, as in two of itsdirections, is inquieto (restless; uneasy), the musical equivalent ofuncertain, anxious, urgency. The musical Cascando ends calandopoco a poco (getting weaker little by little, diminishing). Beckettsstage directions give both Music and Voice passages of weakening.The musical direction is an apt ending, as Beckett had originallywanted to entitle the play Calando, but it was pointed out to himthat the word suggested slang for a Normandy cheese. Marcel Mi-halovicis evocative score could be described as a sound poem; it isnot obviously programmatic, and its main function is commentaryrather than representation. That it should be forever separatedfrom its text is obviously a matter of regret, and it is to be hopedthat, at some point, the words will be re-united with the originalmusical score (a copy of the manuscript is held in the ReadingBeckett archive) in a complete edition of the play. It is not a concernfor scholars that some cannot read music, or that such a text mightbe too expensive for the general reader. We are not dealing, here,with a minor figure in the history of European literature.

The interested parties in the creation of a complete, scholarly,edition of Cascando would be Faber and Faber, Grove Press,Suhrkamp, Les ditions de Minuit, ditions Musicales AlphonseLeduc (who absorbed Heugel & Co, original copyright holdersfor the music) and, of course, the Beckett Estate. In the unlikelyevent that all parties would agree to a new edition, and that oneor more of the publishers would publish it (though it would beunprofitable) it is worth asking what the editorial principles of sucha hypothetical edition would be.8


As with all scholarship, further work needs to be done. Thereneeds to be a search for further information relating to the revisionsBeckett made and how the process of revision affected the differentversions of the Evergreen Review, the Faber first edition and the BBCproduction.9 The reason for the obvious errors in the Faber firstedition also needs more research.

Moreover, the position of Grove Press needs to be investigatedto discover the reasoning behind the change from the Evergreentext to the Faber. Gontarski experienced a similar uncertainty inhis notes on Play, with which Fabers first edition of Cascandoappeared. Here, the position is rather the reverse of the problemswith Cascando, the first version of Play, published by Faber,being followed by a later, revised, edition published in EvergreenReview. The 1964 Faber edition of Play was the first Englishedition, but Beckett continued to revise the text for the Britishand French productions of that year (Gontarski in Beckett 2009c,xiii). In the light of his production experience, Beckett suggesteda new version of the text for publication by the EvergreenReview (1965). Evergreen used the Faber and Faber edition asthe template, but incorporated corrections suggested by Beckett.This revised edition was not used for later Faber editions untilthe 1984/1986 Collected Shorter Plays and The Complete DramaticWorks, and, inexplicably (Gontarski in Beckett, 2009c, xiv), GrovePress ignored their own (Evergreen) corrections in favour of theoriginal Faber in the 1968 Cascando and other short dramatic pieces.The 1984/1986 Faber editions did incorporate the correctionsof the later Evergreen edition (with one exception, noted byGontarski), so the problems did not persist as they did withCascando.

Pending further research, the 1984 Faber Collected Shorter Plays,as reproduced in The Complete Dramatic Works of 1986, correctingthe errors of the Faber first edition of 1964, must be taken as thecopy-text for an edition of Cascando. The principle at work here isthe same that guides Gontarski to favour the later version of Play,with its Evergreen corrections. With Cascando, the Faber is the laterEnglish version of the text, and as such (without other evidence)must be taken to represent Becketts later thinking (and a freertranslation of his original French). There is no editorial rule that alater edition must be better than an earlier one, but preference,


here, for a subsequent text offers a sounder principle than anyotherwise arbitrary merging of the two main versions.

Ackerley makes an important point in his commentary on hisedition of Watt. Having settled on his template for a scholarlyedition, he determines on a conservative principle of not makingfurther changes unless there is an obvious error (Ackerley inBeckett, 2009a, xii-xiv). Following such a principle, there shouldbe only one amendment to the corrected (1984) version of theFaber, God god being corrected to Good god, as an error, nota change of authorial intention. A scholarly edition would: noteall the errors in the first Faber edition; give all variants (otherthan those of house style) in the earlier Evergreen edition (as well asnoting the one obvious error in that edition); for all such variantsgive the original French for purposes of comparison;10 and note thevariations in the BBC production which show knowledge of theEvergreen edition (a particularly interesting issue).

Here is the opening page of a scholarly edition, following theseprinciples (and a line by line version of the first page of the coretext, the 1984 Collected Shorter Plays, as reproduced in the 1986 TheComplete Dramatic Works):

OPENER: [Cold.] It is the month of May . . . for me.[Pause.]Correct.[Pause.]I open. 5VOICE: [Low, panting.] story . . . if you could finish it . . .you could rest . . . sleep . . . not before . . . oh I know . . .the ones Ive finished . . . thousands and one . . . all I everdid . . . in my life . . . with my life . . . saying to myself . . .finish this one . . . its the right one . . . then rest . . . sleep 10. . . no more stories . . . no more words . . . and finished it . . .and not the right one . . . couldnt rest . . . straight awayanother . . . to begin . . . to finish . . . saying to myself . . .finish this one . . . then rest . . . this time . . . its the rightone . . . this time . . . you have it . . . and finished it. . . and 15not the right one . . . couldnt rest . . . straight away another. . . but this one . . . its different . . . Ill finish it . . . Ive gotit . . . Woburn . . . I resume . . . a long life . . . already . . . say


what you like . . . a few misfortunes . . . thats enough . . .five years later . . . ten . . . I dont know . . . Woburn . . . hes 20changed . . . not enough . . . recognizable . . . in the shed . . .yet another . . . waiting for night . . . night to fall . . . to goout . . . go on . . . elsewhere . . . sleep elsewhere . . . its slow. . . he lifts his head . . . now and then . . . his eyes . . . to thewindow . . . its darkening . . . earth darkening . . . its night 25. . . he gets up . . . knees first . . . then up . . . on his feet . . .slips out . . . Woburn . . . same old coat . . . right the sea . . .left the hills . . . he has the choice . . . he has onlyOPENER: [With VOICE.] And I close.[Silence.] 30I open the other.MUSIC: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OPENER: [With MUSIC.] And I close.

1 [Cold.] Faber (cold). (1964, 39); Evergreen: (dry as dust) (1963a,47); Suhrkamp: sec(1963b, 340).3 Correct as Faber (1964, 39); Evergreen: Yes, thats right. (1963a,47); Suhrkamp: Oui, cest juste (1963b, 340).7 you could rest . . . sleep as Faber (1964, 39); Evergreen: youcould rest . . . you could sleep (1963a, 47); Suhrkamp: tu seraistranquille . . . pourrais dormir (1963b, 340).10 then rest . . . sleep as Faber (1964, 39); Evergreen: thenrest . . . then sleep (1963a, 47); Suhrkamp: aprs tu serastranquille . . . pourras dormir (1963b, 340).1314 saying to myself . . . finish this one as Evergreen (1963a, 47);Faber: saying to myself finish this one (1964, 39); BBC, as Faber1964 (no pause); Suhrkamp: en me disant . . . finis celle-ci (1963b,340).1415 this time . . . its the right one . . . this time . . . you have it asFaber (1964, 39); Evergreen: this time its the right one . . . this timeyou have it (1963a, 47); BBC, as Faber (extra pauses); Suhrkamp:cette fois cest la bonne . . . cette fois tu la tiens (1963b, 340).1718 Ill finish it . . . Ive got it . . . Woburn as Faber (1964,39); Evergreen: Ill finish it . . . then rest . . . its the right one . . . thistime I have it . . . Ive got it . . . Woburn (1963a, 47); BBC asEvergreen (the only instance where the BBC solely follows theEvergreen); Suhrkamp: je vais la finir . . . je serai tranquille . . . cest


la bonne . . . cette fois je la tiens . . . cette fois jy suis . . . Maunu(1963b, 340).20 five years later . . . ten as Faber (1964, 39); Evergreen: five yearslater . . . ten years (1963a, 47); Suhrkamp: cinq ans plus tard . . . dixans (1963b, 340).25 its darkening . . . earth darkening as Faber (1964, 3940);Evergreen: its darkening . . . the earth is darkening (1963a, 48);Suhrkamp: elle brunit . . . la terre brunit (1963b, 342).31 I open the other. as Evergreen (1963a, 48); Faber: I open thedoor (1964, 40); See Federman and Fletcher, 86: The variants in383.2 [Faber 1964], especially, p. 40, l. 8, I open the door, seemto be misprints; this particular sentence reads I open the otherin 383 [Evergreen 1963a], p. 48. (Mr. Beckett has confirmed that thisparticular reading is a mistake.)32 See Appendix: Musical Score Section I: Rplique: Jouvrelautre.

A preface would give a discursive account of the two mainEnglish versions of the text, with a critical commentary on theimportant variants. It is historically and critically important thatthere remain two distinct English versions of the play, eachregularly reproduced. From March 1964 there continued to be, intwo lines of descent, two significantly different co-existing versionsof the text in English. It is understandable that Edward Beckett,representing the Beckett estate, should be reported as saying ofproducers, directors and actors: we insist they play the play as Samwrote it. Edward Albee, in his Introduction to Volume III of theGrove Centenary Edition of the Works, clearly agrees:

Beckett heard and saw his plays onstage as he wrote them,and his stage directions need to be followed precisely,for the simple reason that they are exactly on target andapproximation or departure from them leads to a lesserexperience of the play. In general, the better the play, the leastdeparture from the authors instructions is needed. (Albee inBeckett, 2006b, ix-x)

The textual history of Cascando challenges such views. There isno monolithic version of the text. There is no true version thateven the brilliant scholarship of an Ackerley or a Gontarski could


unearth. The play as Sam wrote it is more than one text: composedfirst in French and published in Belgium; then in America (in anEnglish translation); then in Germany (in the original French,translated into German, appending the American English version);in England (with a new English translation); and finally publishedin Paris by Becketts French publishers Minuit. The plays radioperformance history also adds to this complexity. Cascando offersthe perfect basis for a discourse on textual authenticity in the workof Samuel Beckett.

Even to consider stage directions, as urged by Albee, one Englishversion should not always be followed alone. An actor having tospeak the opening line of Cascando cold (as in the Fabers) wouldsurely find it interesting and helpful that another version (theEvergreen) gives the instruction dry as dust, which is closer to theFrench sec.

Finally, a complete scholarly edition of Cascando would give themusical score in an Appendix, with critical commentary. Cascandowithout its music is like the libretto for an opera or oratorio withoutits score. What we have in any available edition of Cascando a ra-dio piece for music and voice is half a play, voice without music.

Appendix: Variants in the Major Editions ofBecketts Cascando

Key to Editions:

LVII 1963 =Cascando in LVII, Numbers 13 and 14, April 3rd ,1963, pp. 4956.Evergreen 1963 =Cascando, in Evergreen Review, Volume 7, Number30, May-June, 1963, pp. 4757.Suhrkamp 1963 = Cascando in Dramatische Dichtungen, Band I(Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1963), French/Germanparallel text, trans. into German by Elmar Tophoven, pp. 33861,in English, trans. by Samuel Beckett, pp. 51930.Faber 1964 =Cascando, in Play and two short pieces for radio (London:Faber and Faber, 1964), pp. 3748.BBC 1964 =Cascando, produced by Donald MacWhinnie, firstbroadcast on the BBC Third Programme, 6th October, 1964 (TheBritish Library Board, 2006).


Minuit 1966 =Cascando, in Comdie et actes divers (Paris: ditionsde Minuit, 1966), pp. 4560.Grove 1968 =Cascando, in Cascando and other short dramatic pieces(Grove Press: New York, 1968), pp. 719.Faber 1984 =Cascando, in Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett(London: Faber and Faber, 1984), pp. 13544.Faber 1986 =Cascando, in Samuel Beckett: The Complete DramaticWorks (London: Faber and Faber, 1986). pp. 295304.Grove 2006 =Cascando, in Samuel Beckett: The Grove CentenaryEdition, 4 vols (New York: Grove Press, 2006), Volume III, DramaticWorks, pp. 34151.Faber 2009 =Cascando in All That Fall and other plays for radio andscreen, with preface and notes by Everett Frost (London: Faber andFaber, 2009), pp. 8393.

General Note on Variants

The variants in the following tables ignore trivial variations ofhouse style. For instance, here is the full list of variants for theplays first stage direction:

1. LVII 1963 Ouvreur (sec): (51, 1)2. Evergreen 1963 OPENER (dry as dust): (47, 3)3. Suhrkamp 1963 Ouvreur sec: (340, 1)4. Faber 1964 OPENER: (cold). (39, 1)5. Minuit 1966 OUVREUR (sec). (47, 1)6. Grove 1968 OPENER (dry as dust): (9, 1)7. Faber 1984 OPENER: [Cold.] (137, 1)8. Faber 1986 OPENER: [Cold.] (297, 1)9. Grove 2006 OPENER [cold] (343, 1)

10. Faber 2009 OPENER: [Cold.] (85, 1)

Here there are only two significant variants in English (dry as dustand cold) and no significant variants in French.

Some aspects of typography have been normalised, includingminor variations in the representation of ellipsis and variationsin the length and spacing of dashes. However, where there is


a (deliberate) additional ellipsis in some editions this has beennoted (as implying a slight pause).

The representation of the simultaneous contributions of Voiceand Music has caused a number of problems of lineation andellipsis in some editions. The convention requires each line ofVoice to be followed by a whole line of dashes (or dots)representing the contribution of music. The latest error of this kindis found in Faber 2009, which gives:

him . . . dont lose him . . . Woburn story . . . getting on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .finish . . . then sleep . . . no more stories . . . no morewords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . come on . . . next thing . . . he (86, 1519)

In setting, here, words has over-run the line of the sourceedition(s). So Faber 1984 and Faber 1986 both have the correct:

him . . . dont lose him . . . Woburn story . . . getting on . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .finish . . . then sleep . . . no more stories . . . no more words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . come on . . . next thing . . . he (Faber 1984, 138, 1115;Faber 1986, 298, 1115)

The error of lineation in Faber 2009 is only interesting in that itsuggests a lack of careful proofing, and the following notes ignoresuch variants.

In the tables that follow, variants between French editions areonly noted when they affect a passage which varies in English(as the aim is to give the French for comparison with Englishvariants). So a general note on French editions is offered here. PimVerhulst notes only a few minor differences between Suhrkamp1963 and Minuit 1966. He had not been able to verify whether anyvariants occurred between the first printing in LVII and the Minuitpublication (Verhulst, p. 219). I can confirm that Minuit 1966 tendsto agree with LVII 1963 rather than Suhrkamp 1963, as shown forVerhulsts five example variants:


LVII1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Minuit1966

tuy

es(5

1,39

)tu

yes

t(34

2,17

19)

tuy

es(4

9,7)

Mus

ique

(brve

)

M

usiq

uebrve:

M

usiq

ue(brve

).

Ouv

reur

...

ces

tde

moi

auss

i?(5

4,40

41)

Silence

Ouv

reur

...

.c

estd

em

oiau

ssi?

Ouv

reur

...c

est

de

moi

auss

i?(3

54,1

113

)(5

7,6

7)

Jere

com

men

ce.(

52,3

)Je

reco

mm

ence

.(34

4,2)

Etr

ecom

men

ce.(

49,2

0)

levo

ir(5

3,49

)le

vois

(350

,23)

levo

ir(5

4,21

)

Alo

ns!A

llons

!(55

,8)

Alle

z!A

llez!

(356

,6)

Allo

ns!A

llons

!(58

,4)

Note:

The

LVII1963

vari

ant

Alo

ns!,

here

,is

anob

viou

sm

ispr

int.


Evergreen

1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Faber

1964

Notes

onother

editions

OPE

NE

R(dry

asdu

st):

(47,

1)O

pene

rdryas

dust:(

521,

1)O

PEN

ER

:(cold

).(3

9,1)

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

Ouv

reur

sec:

(340

,1)

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

Yes,

that

sri

ght.

(47,

3)Ye

s,th

ats

righ

t.(5

21,3

)C

orre

ct.(

39,3

)A

llot

herFabers

asFaber

1964

BBC1964

11as

Faber

1964

Oui

,ce

stju

ste.

(340

,3)

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

you

coul

dre

st..

.yo

uco

uld

slee

pyo

uco

uld

rest

...

you

coul

dsl

eep

you

coul

dre

st..

.sl

eep

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

(47,

67)

(521

,67

)(3

9,7)

BBC1964

asFaber

1964

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

tuse

rais

tran

quill

e...

pour

rais

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

dor

mir

(340

,67

)Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

then

rest

...

then

slee

p(4

7,10

11)

then

rest

...

then

slee

p(5

21,1

011

)th

enre

st..

.sl

eep

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

(39,

111

2)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

apr

stu

sera

str

anqu

ille

...

pour

ras

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

dor

mir

(340

,10

11)

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers


Evergreen

1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Faber

1964

Notes

onother

editions

sayi

ngto

mys

elf.

..fin

ish

this

sayi

ngto

mys

elf.

..fin

ish

this

...

sayi

ngto

mys

elf

All

othe

rFabers

asEvergreen

one

(47,

131

4)on

e(5

21,1

4)fin

ish

this

one

1963

(39,

151

6)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

[no

enm

ed

isan

t...

finis

celle

-ci

paus

e](3

40,1

314

)Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asEvergreen

1963

(and

allFabers

afte

r19

64)

this

tim

eit

sth

eri

ghto

ne..

.th

isth

isti

me

its

the

righ

tone

...

this

this

tim

e..

.it

sth

eA

llot

herFabers

asFaber

1964

tim

eyo

uha

veit

(47,

141

5)ti

me

you

have

it(5

21,1

415

)ri

ghto

ne..

.th

isti

me

...

BBC1964

asFaber

1964

[ext

rayo

uha

veit

(39,

161

7)pa

uses

]ce

tte

fois

ces

tla

bonn

e..

.Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

cett

efo

istu

lati

ens

(340

,14

15)

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

Ill

finis

hit

...

then

rest

...

its

the

Ill

finis

hit

...

then

rest

...

its

the

Ill

finis

hit

...

Ive

goti

t...

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

righ

tone

...

this

tim

eIh

ave

it..

.ri

ghto

ne..

.th

isti

me

Ihav

eit

...

Wob

urn

(39,

202

1)BBC1964

asEvergreen

1963

12

Ive

goti

t...

Wob

urn

(47,

171

9)I

vego

tit.

..W

obur

nMinuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

(521

,17

19)

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

jeva

isla

fini

r..

.je

sera

itra

nqui

lle..

.c

estl

abo

nne

...

cett

efo

isje

lati

ens

...

cett

efo

isjy

suis

...

Mau

nu(3

40,1

719

)


Evergreen

1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Faber

1964

Notes

onother

editions

five

year

sla

ter

...

ten

year

sfi

veye

ars

late

r..

.te

nye

ars

five

year

sla

ter

...

ten

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

(47,

21)

(521

,21)

(39,

232

4)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

cinq

ans

plus

tard

...

dix

ans

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

(340

,21

22)

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

helif

tshi

she

ad..

.no

wan

dhe

lifts

his

head

...

now

and

then

...

helif

tshi

she

ad..

.no

wA

llot

herFabers

asFaber

1964

then

...

his

eyes

...

toth

ehi

sey

es..

.to

the

win

dow

...

its

and

then

...

his

eyes

...

toth

eBBC1964

asFaber

1964

win

dow

...

its

dar

keni

ng..

.d

arke

ning

...

the

eart

his

dar

keni

ngw

ind

ow..

.it

sd

arke

ning

...

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

the

eart

his

dar

keni

ng..

.it

sni

ght(

521,

252

7)ea

rth

dar

keni

ng..

.it

sGrove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

...

its

nigh

t(48

,24

)ni

ght(

39,2

930

;40,

1)Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

ill

vela

tte

...

de

tem

psen

tem

ps..

.re

gard

ela

vitr

e..

.el

lebr

unit

...

late

rre

brun

it(3

42,1

2)


Evergreen

1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Faber

1964

Other

variants1964

-2009

Iope

nth

eot

her.

(48,

10)

Iope

nth

eot

her.

(522

,6)

Iope

nth

ed

oor.1

3(4

0,8)

Faber

1964

isth

eon

lyed

itio

nth

atgi

ves

this

erro

r.J

ouvr

ela

utre

.(34

2,8)

BBC1964

eith

erco

rrec

ted

the

erro

r,or

follo

wed

the

corr

ect

Evergreen

1963

.

on..

.it

sge

ttin

gon

...

on

...

its

gett

ing

on..

.fin

ish

it

on..

.ge

ttin

gon

...

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

finis

hit

(48,

15)

(522

,11)

finis

h(4

0,13

)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

av

ance

...

elle

avan

ce..

.la

finir

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

(342

,13)

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

fini

shit

...

its

the

righ

tone

...

fini

shit

...

its

the

righ

tone

...

this

fini

sh..

.th

isti

me

...

its

All

othe

rFabers

asFaber

1964

this

tim

eyo

uha

veit

...

tim

eyo

uha

veit

...

you

vego

tit.

..th

eri

ghto

ne..

.yo

uBBC1964

asFaber

1964

you

vego

tit.

..it

sth

ere

...

som

ewhe

reha

veit

...

you

vego

tit.

..Suhrkam

p1963

tuy

est

isa

its

ther

e..

.so

mew

here

(522

,13

17)

its

ther

e..

.so

mew

here

mis

prin

t;bo

thLVII1963

(51,

39)

(48,

172

1)14

(40,

172

1)an

dMinuit1966

(49,

7)la

fini

r..

.c

estl

abo

nne

...

tula

give

the

corr

ect

tuy

es

tien

s..

.tu

yes

t...

quel

que

part

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

(342

,17

19)

Grove

2006,t

houg

hfo

llow

ing

theFabers,

has

aner

ror

oflin

eati

on/

ellip

sis,

givi

ngth

eva

rian

tfi

nish

this

tim

e(3

44,1

517

)


Evergreen

1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Faber

1964

Other

variants19642009

you

vego

thim

...

follo

whi

m..

.yo

uve

goth

im..

.fo

llow

him

...

you

vego

thim

...

follo

wFaber

1964

isth

eon

lyed

itio

nd

ont

lose

him

(48,

212

3)d

ont

lose

him

(522

,17

19)

him

him

...

don

tth

atgi

ves

the

obvi

ous

erro

rh

imlo

sehi

m(4

0,21

23)

him

,al

soco

rrec

ted

inBBC1964

tule

tien

s..

.le

suiv

re..

.ne

plus

leMinuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

lch

er(3

42,1

921

)Grove

2006

give

sa

furt

her

vari

anto

felli

psis

:yo

uve

got

him

...

follo

w..

.him

(34

4,19

21)

Wob

urn

stor

y..

.ge

ttin

gon

...

Wob

urn

stor

y..

.ge

ttin

gon

...

Wob

urn

stor

y..

.ge

ttin

gA

llFabers

asFaber

1964

(apa

rtfin

ish

it..

.th

ensl

eep

finis

hit

...

then

slee

p(5

22,1

921

)on

...

finis

h..

.th

enfr

omFaber

2009

15)

(48,

232

5)sl

eep

(40,

232

5)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

hist

oire

Mau

nu..

.el

leav

ance

...

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

lafi

nir

...

puis

dor

mir

(342

,21

23)

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

befo

re20

09sa

yw

haty

oulik

e..

.th

eba

nk..

.sa

yw

haty

oulik

e..

.th

eba

nk..

.sa

yw

haty

oulik

e..

.he

AllFabers

asFaber

1964

hehu

gsth

eba

nk..

.sa

me

old

hehu

gsth

eba

nk..

.sa

me

old

stic

kgo

eson

...

hugg

ing

BBC1964

asFaber

1964

stic

k..

.he

goes

dow

n..

.he

goes

dow

n(5

22,3

031

)th

eba

nk..

.sa

me

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

(49,

67)

old

stic

k..

.he

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

quoi

que

lon

dis

e..

.le

talu

s..

.il

goes

dow

n(4

1,4

6)Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

rase

leta

lus

...

mm

evi

eux

bto

n..

.M

aunu

...

ild

esce

nd(3

44,6

8)

alre

ady

...

we

reth

ere

alre

ady

alre

ady

...

we

reth

ere

alre

ady

alre

ady

...

ther

eal

read

yA

llFabers

asFaber

1964

(49,

10)

(523

,1)

(41,

9)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

ay

estd

j

...

(344

,11)

Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers


Evergreen

1963

Suhrkam

p1963

Faber

1964

Other

variants19642009

vagu

em

emor

y..

.in

his

vagu

em

emor

y..

.in

his

head

...

vagu

em

emor

y..

.in

his

Faber

1964

isth

eon

lyed

itio

nhe

ad..

.of

aca

veof

aca

ve(5

23,6

7)

head

...

aof

cave

that

give

sth

eob

viou

ser

ror

(49,

151

6)(4

1,16

17)

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

vagu

eso

uven

ir..

.d

une

grot

te..

.d

ans

sat

te(3

44,1

617

)

nom

ore

cove

r..

.he

stop

s..

.no

mor

eco

ver

...

hest

ops

...

nota

nom

ore

cove

r..

.A

llFabers

asFaber

1964

nota

soul

(49,

181

9)so

ul(5

23,9

10)

nota

soul

(41,

192

0)BBC1964

asFaber

1964

Minuit1966

asSuhrkam

p1963

plus

rien

quic

ache

...

ils

arr

te..

.Grove

1968

asEvergreen

1963

pers

onne

(344

,19

20)

Grove

2006

asal

lFabers

don

tgi

veup

...

it1

6th

ed

ont

give

up..

.it

sth

eri

ghto

ne..

.d

ont

give

up..

.th

isti

me

...Evergreen

1963

isth

eon

lyri

ghto

ne..

.w

ere

ther

ew

ere

ther

e..

.ne

arly

...

Im

ther

eit

sth

eri

ghto

ne..

.w

ere

edit

ion

that

give

sth

eob

viou

s..

.ne

arly

...

Im

ther

e(5

23,1

518

)th

ere

...

Im

ther

eer

ror

(it

fo

rit

s)

.For

the

(49,

252

7)(4

1,26

30)

othe

rva

rian

t:ne

pas

lch

er..

.c

estl

abo

nne

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N O T E S

1. I gratefully acknowledge the Estate of Samuel Beckett and Faber andFaber publishers who have given permission for the publication of thisarticle. This article was accepted for publication by the Journal of BeckettStudies in June 2011, and first disseminated at the Samuel Beckett: Out ofthe Archive conference (2326 June 2011). Thanks to Dirk Van Hulle fordrawing to my attention a recent article by Pim Verhulst. Verhulst takesCascando as a test case in an argument for a bilingual edition of the text. Ihave added several references to this interesting and helpful article in myannotations.

2. The lines of dots below each line of text represent Music which hereaccompanies Voice.

3. Verhulst notes Gontarskis suspicion that Beckett may not havereceived proofs, 221.

4. Verhulst notes that the Evergreen Review edition of the play wasreprinted verbatim in Cascando and Other Short Dramatic Pieces (1968),21922. But this one obvious error was corrected for the later edition.

5. Verhulst rightly notes the tendency to favour the Faber edition in theBBC production: it used a script that was in between the Evergreen andFaber texts, repeating variants from both but mostly from the latter, 222.

6. The first French edition was published a few months earlier in thejournal LVII (April, 1963). As noted elsewhere, there are a number ofminor variations between the two French versions, but the Suhrkampis preferred here, as that edition also included Becketts own Englishtranslation.

7. Verhulst is less certain of the mistake, but acknowledges that thismight have been a printers error. It is easy to imagine how Good andGod may have been confused by the typesetter. He goes on to give afascinating account of how the BBCs concerns over blasphemy may havefavoured God over Good God, 2212.

8. I am not advocating, here, a bilingual edition. Though Pim Verhulstputs forward a good case for this, the priority in Beckett studies should beto have complete scholarly editions of all texts in both English and French.As Verhulst notes, the variants in French are slight and a French editionwould be largely uncontroversial from an editorial point of view, 219.

9. Pim Verhulst gives the best account of this process we have, thoughhe notes a range of uncertainties and rightly concludes that Beckett wasconfronted with yet another textual mess, 224.

10. As it incorporates one of the English translations, it makes senseto use the second French edition published by Suhrkamp Verlag a fewmonths after the first French edition published in LVII in April 1963 (thereare very minor variants between the two French editions).


11. Federman and Fletcher claim that the first BBC production followedthe 383 text (p.86), meaning Evergreen 1963. Fletcher later revised thisview in Beryl S. and John Fletcher, A Students Guide to the Plays of SamuelBeckett (London and Boston: Faber and Faber, 1978), noting: The BBCbroadcast [. . .] followed a text intermediate between that printed in theEvergreen Review and that published by Faber and Faber in 1964 (p.174.),citing Clas Zilliacus, Beckett and Broadcasting: A Study of the Works of SamuelBeckett for and in Radio and Television (bo, bo Akademi, 1976), p.123. Mynotes show that neither is exactly the case.

12. The only occasion when the BBC production favours the Evergreenwithout the reason of an obvious misprint.

13. See Federman and Fletcher, p.86: The variants in 383.2 [Faber 1964],especially p. 40, l. 8, I open the door, seem to be misprints; this particularsentence reads I open the other in 383 [Evergreen 1963], p. 48. (Mr.Beckett has confirmed that this particular reading is a mistake.) See alsoFaber 1964 (42, 27), which gives the same I open the other. as Evergreen1963.

14. The line references in this section (as in other examples) include thecount of whole lines devoted to hyphens (or dots) representing Music, asVoice and Music combine.

15. This is where the error of lineation noted in the General Note onVariants occurs.

16. The only obvious error in Evergreen 196317. The only occasion when BBC 1964 seems to draw on both Evergreen

1963 and Faber 1964 to create its own text.18. The French variant is interesting, reflecting the complexity of

Becketts use of pronouns. The Suhrkamp 1963 version reads I have it,referring to the feminine histoire; the LVII 1963 andMinuit 1966 versionsread I have him referring to Maunu (the French equivalent of Woburn). Itis a revealing variant, as Becketts play desperately tries to tell the story ofMaunu, hoping that the story will be the man himself (and therefore endthe need to tell his story). The different genders of lhistoire and Maunuironically express the difference between the story of someone and thatsomeones true identity.

W O R K S C I T E D

Beckett, Samuel (1963a), Cascando, in Evergreen Review, Vol. 7, No. 30,MayJune, pp. 4757.

Beckett, Samuel (1963b), Cascando, in Dramatische Dichtungen, Band I,Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, pp. 33861.


Beckett, Samuel (1964), Cascando, in Play and Two Short Pieces for Radio,London: Faber and Faber, pp. 3748.

Beckett, Samuel (1984), Cascando in Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett,London: Faber and Faber, pp.13544.

Beckett, Samuel (2006a), Cascando, produced by Donald MacWhinnie, BBCThird Programme, 6 October 1964, London: The British Library Board.

Beckett, Samuel (2006b), Samuel Beckett: The Grove Centenary Edition, PaulAuster (ed.), Vol. III, New York: Grove Press, pp. ixx.

Beckett, Samuel (2009a), Watt, ed. Chris Ackerley, London: Faber andFaber.

Beckett, Samuel (2009b), All That Fall and Other Plays for Radio and Screen,London: Faber and Faber, pp. 1767.

Beckett, Samuel (2009c), Krapps Last Tape and Other Shorter Plays, Prefaceby S. E. Gontarski, London: Faber and Faber.

Federman, Raymond and John Fletcher (1970), Samuel Beckett: His Worksand His Critics, An Essay in Bibliography, Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, p. 86.

Fletcher, Beryl S. and John Fletcher (1978), A Students Guide to the Plays ofSamuel Beckett, London: Faber and Faber, p.174.

Gontarski, S. E. (1995), Editing Beckett, in Twentieth Century Literature,41.2, pp. 190208.

Verhulst, Pim (2012), Editing Multilingual Beckett: The Case of Cascando,in Variants 9, Texts Beyond Borders: Multilingualism and Textual Scholarship,ed. Wout Dillen, Caroline Mac and Dirk Van Hulle, Amsterdam andNew York: Rodopi, pp. 21127.

D. K. ALSOP - Textual Variants in Cascando: An Argument for a Scholarly Edition

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