Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh until Sat 18 Feb

There’s an ironic completeness to Samuel Beckett’s short story The End, not only because he wrote it fairly early on in the celebrated part of his career (1946) but because it exposes the nuanced detail and beauty contained within the simple art of reflection. Irish company Gare St Lazare return after their success last year with The Beckett Trilogy to add to their volume of work taken from the writer’s anthology.

The End tells of a man detailing some of the final moments of his life, played with touching, solemn frailty by Conor Lovett. As he is released from an ‘institution of care’, he meets eccentric characters and spirited personalities who help define the last days of his seemingly nomadic existence – before lying down to rest and in due course pass away.

In many ways, the performance is typically Beckettian; a dense script performed as a threaded monologue and minimalist staging familiarise the audience with what’s on show. Lovett remains centred for much of it and holds focus with masterful precision, occasionally moving around as he recounts the various meetings: he tells of a Marxist seen ranting from the top of a car and the people who would pass by when he lived on the streets. They are personal, intimate accounts which pick at those finer observations in life – how we interact and respond to situations of intense pressure or unease.

The true craft comes from Beckett himself, his language occupying that intangible position between prose and poetry. The reserved performance from Lovett compliments this with true consideration, his gentle voice inviting the audience to imagine these esoteric tales with a kind of warm affection. It produces a conversation on the end of life before it approaches and gives space to discuss the tiny imperfections of reality which actually compose it. There seems to be nothing profound here, and therein lies the enigma of Beckett: constantly reflecting, always in motion and impossible to ever pin down.