First Love is a short story by Samuel Beckett. In it a man recounts an episode early in his adult life where, having been expelled from the family home, he meets a young woman on a bench. His attempts to rid himself of his infatuation with her lead him to move in with her. A perfect blend of tragedy and comedy, First Love is almost the perfect short story.
Running Time 80 minutes. First Love premiered at Siamsa Tire, Tralee on March 8th 2008.
“Conor Lovett deserves his reputation as one of the greatest Beckett actors of our time. His timing and manner is perfect as he switches between humour, confusion, genuine joy, apathy and shocking moments of anger or despair. He creates a character who is the finest balance between hateful and abhorrent and charming and sympathetic. His lilting Irish accent is the ideal vehicle to deliver Beckett’s words, lending both humour and pathos to the narrative. He and director Judy Hegarty Lovett have staged a play that is so simple that it’s almost overwhelming.” The Australian Stage.
“Such a pleasing triumph.” New York Times.
“The piece is pebble-dashed with erudition, vulgarity and frequently hilarious self-deprecation which seems very familiar. At least half of that pleasurable sense of familiarity, of course, comes from the work of Lovett. He has become so much the Beckett performer of choice that his voice, his humour, his ways of controlling attention, more and more, form our idea of Beckett.” Dublin Evening Herald.