Eh Joe (1965) by Samuel Beckett (Type of Work)

 

Eh Joe (1965)

by Samuel Beckett

(Type of Work) 

Type of Work in Eh Joe (1965)

Eh Joe is best classified as a television drama (or television play), but its form radically departs from conventional dramatic structures. Written by Samuel Beckett specifically for television, the work belongs to a group of late modernist and minimalist experiments that blur the boundaries between drama, prose, and psychological monologue. Rather than presenting a story driven by action, dialogue, or plot progression, Eh Joe functions as an audiovisual meditation on memory, guilt, and inner consciousness.

At its core, Eh Joe is a one-character dramatic monologue, though even this label is incomplete. Only one physical character, Joe, appears on screen, and he never speaks. The second “character,” a woman’s voice, exists offstage and arguably within Joe’s mind. This voice does not engage in dialogue but delivers a sustained, accusatory address. As a result, the work abandons dramatic interaction in favor of psychological confrontation, making the audience witness not a conversation but an interior reckoning.

Formally, the play is shaped by extreme minimalism. The setting is reduced to a nearly empty room, and physical movement is limited to Joe’s initial ritual of securing the space. Once seated, action ceases almost entirely. Instead, meaning is generated through the gradual camera movement—a uniquely televisual device. With each return of the woman’s voice, the camera moves closer to Joe’s face, replacing theatrical blocking with visual intimacy. This use of the camera as a structural and expressive element defines Eh Joe as a work conceived for the screen rather than the stage.

Because of this, Eh Joe also functions as a hybrid work between drama and film. While it retains dramatic elements such as character, tension, and thematic development, it relies on cinematic techniques—close-ups, silence, and controlled pacing—to communicate its meaning. The audience does not interpret gestures or spoken exchanges but instead reads meaning in micro-expressions, pauses, and the oppressive closeness of the camera. In this sense, the play transforms television into a medium for interior theatre, where the mind itself becomes the stage.

The work can further be described as an example of modernist and absurdist drama, though it is more accurately aligned with Beckett’s late style, which moves beyond the overt absurdity of earlier works like Waiting for Godot. In Eh Joe, the absurd is quiet, inward, and relentless. There is no external conflict, no hope of resolution, and no narrative closure. The central tension lies in the impossibility of escape—from memory, from guilt, and from the self.

Ultimately, the type of work Eh Joe represents is best understood as a psychological television monodrama. It rejects theatrical spectacle and narrative comfort, using the technical capabilities of television to expose the fragility of human self-control. Beckett transforms a simple televised image into a profound exploration of conscience, making Eh Joe a landmark experiment in both modern drama and television art.