This new installation based on Samuel Beckett’s play for television, ‘Not I’, is directed by Neil Jordan and stars the American actress Julianne Moore. ‘Not I’ features an actress seated on a stage with just the mouth visible. The mouth then delivers a long monologue, a constat stream of consciousness. Neil Jordan describes the process: “With Julianne Moore we filmed each angle in long, complete, thirteen minute takes since the piece only reveals itself through the pressure of performance, through the demands Beckett makes on the breath, the voice, the mouth, the brain”.

Neil Jordan’s film career began with the role of creative consultant on John Boorman’s ‘Excalibur’ in 1981. Since then he has made twelve films, ‘Angel'(1982), ‘Company of Wolves'(1984), ‘Mona Lisa'(1986), ‘The Crying Game'(1992) for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay, ‘Interview with a Vampire'(1994), ‘Michael Collins'(1995), which was awarded a Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, ‘The Butcher Boy'(1996), for which he won a Silver Bear for Director at the Berlin Film Festival, ‘In Dreams'(1999) and ‘End of the Affair'(1999) for which he won a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.

This special showing marks the donation of the piece to the Museum by Neil Jordan and coincides with the Beckett season at the Gate Theatre and the ‘Beckett on Film Festival’ at the IFC, where the film version of all 19 of Samuel Becketts plays will be premiered.