Ghost Trio, Biomechanics and Eisenstein's Reading of Kleist's Marionettes

This article explores Beckett's relation to anti-naturalist performance style by delineating an overlooked tradition of theatre which is predominantly defined not only by Kleist's essay on marionette theatre, but also by Meyerhold's biomechanics as filtered through Eisenstein. By drawing on previously neglected aspects of Eisenstein's influence on Beckett, and the use of anti-naturalist theatrical technique in the recorded medium of TV, my account suggests alternative cross-links between Beckett's work for stage and screen, despite his often cited inflexibility on the matter of intermedial adaptations.