Change | Growth | Risk-taking

Samuel Beckett’s play, “Trapp’s Last Tape,” is the story of an aging man and his tape recorder. For his own amusement, at the beginning of every year, he records observations, highlights, major accomplishments, and other random memories of the preceding twelve months. The play takes place in the 69th year of Trapp’s life. This year, however, instead of dictating the year ’s events, he sits alone and listens to his previous recordings, reviewing the drift of his life. As he does this, the audience discovers — and eventually Trapp notices too — something rather surprising and awesomely important. He discovers that the parts of the tape to which he is most drawn are not about the goals achieved, or the acclaim for accomplishments. No. Trapp finds himself, over and over, drawn back to the portions of the tapes having to do with experiences that demanded some movement, some change within himself, some risk-taking in pursuit of a more authentic life.