Waiting for Photo

The Theatre of Samuel Beckett in the Seventies Exhibition at Pusey Library through December

THIS COLLECTION of programmes, rehearsal and production photos, and other memorabilia has been on display since October, but the publicity has been obscure (apt enough for Beckett, who's always agilely sought privacy, impatient reclusive misanthropic, niggardly and unwasteful about his vitality).

Beckett is photogenic; perhaps only Ezra Pound is more so, the secret being not to care what people think of you. This scorn for public taste seems distinctly 20th century. Beckett won't acknowledge the camera, and defies close-up. His wrinkles are far more impressive than W.H. Auden's; Beckett's struggle to cover the bone, Auden's are ornamental. It's a neat twist to find Beckett and Buster Keaton together in one photo (Keaton played the protagonist in Beckett's Film)--Keaton the supreme silent comedian, Beckett (equally a master of comedy) minimizing theatre toward a condition of silence.

The exhibition isn't only photos, and clearly not all the photos are of Beckett. There are some very good stills from his plays, which make for more revealing and impressive stills than most. Take a look.