Why would the Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe-winning, Academy Award nominee actress, Stockard Channing make her directorial debut at the Edinburgh Festival with Krapp’s Last Tape, and join in post-show Q&As, Upstairs at The Roxy at 1.25pm daily, Wednesday 5 August – Monday 31 August (press performance Friday 07/08/26)?

Answer: because her best friend and fellow multi-award-winning actor DAVID WESTHEAD will star as Krapp + the fact that all monies will be going to the charity The Wembley to Soweto Foundation**...

The two reprobates met when playing opposite each other in the movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2000), David set up the charity Wembley to Soweto (2010), Stockard moved to London (2018), they became each other’s bubble during lockdown (2020) = Besties Forever…. and now life is Krapp.

Channing and Westhead have created an artistic collaboration and a unique legacy for themselves, exploring the intricate layers of Samuel Beckett's 50-minute masterpiece and Krapp's solitary world. Outrageous, relatable, heartbreaking and a tribute to the vaudeville that exists in Beckett, all brought to life as Krapp’s Last Tape delves into the life of Krapp, a 69-year-old man, surrounded by the detritus of his life, with his past life playing on his old tape recordings - the ghostly voice of his younger self.

David Westhead said, “I saw the play in my youth and suddenly I’m the right age to play Krapp. We rehearsed in Stockard’s kitchen. I was Krapp. Literally and metaphorically. Her first comment was, “Well, who the hell’s going to watch this?” Slowly things improved and we moved gingerly into the lounge. The play involves a couple of bananas. Benny the dog kept trying to eat them. So, we moved back into the kitchen.”

Stockard Channing said, “David assured me we’d only play his pal’s arts centre for the charity, and now we are taking it to Edinburgh for Wembley To Soweto! I don’t think he will mind too much if I assert that David Westhead is truly Krapp. Talk about Theatre of the Absurd.”

Stockard plays the Edinburgh Festival for the first time, directing Krapp’s Last Tape and joining David on stage for Q&A sessions, following selected performances, to offer deeper insights into Beckett's timeless work. The last time David played Edinburgh was as a student in 1982, emptying the venue with “the producer losing the shirt off his back and all of us losing our dignity”. Nothing much has changed in 44 years as David says: “So far, in total we've spent £3000 on the show + costs for staying in students’ rooms at the university + food & petrol. Friends built the set. My kids (24 & 27) run the show. The whole caboodle goes into the back of my 2007 Ford C-Max. With me and La Channing in the front. Hilarious. Talk about both getting back to our roots....”.

And their reason for “doing” Edinburgh = is to sell out, and post the basic expenses, make a chunk of change for the charity, The Wembley to Soweto Foundation**.

The same old Krapp, but somehow better.

KRAPP’S LAST TAPE by Samuel Beckett Starring David Westhead - Directed by Stockard Channing

Show Title: Krapp’s Last Tape      Venue: Upstairs at The Roxy - 2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9SU Dates: Wednesday 5 August – Monday 31 August 2026 - no show 17/08 Time: Daily at 1.25pm (1325hrs)
Tickets: Previews 5 and 6 August - £10.75 Run 7 - 31 August - £14.25 to £18.75 - Concessions available. 2 for 1 ticket offer 10 & 11 August Press Performance Friday 07/08/26 Bookings: www.assemblyfestival.com or 0131 623 3030

Q&A dates: The Q&A with Stockard Channing (subject to availability) and David Westhead runs straight after the show on 8, 11, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28 and 30 August.

KRAPP PHOTOGRAPHY: HERE KRAPP TRAILER: https://youtu.be/kr6WopOlseI?si=AnSHk-REFN5Vv94D

Pre-Edinburgh, there will be London preview performances, at 7pm & 8.15pm per night on Friday 24 & Saturday 25 July at Calder Theatre on The Cut, London - where Beckett's early work was staged. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/krapps-last-tape-by-samuel-beckett-tickets-1987701563885

Notes to editors:

**The Wembley to Soweto Foundation is a registered charity, providing photographic training and life-skills to disadvantaged young people, enabling them to move their lives forward and, ultimately, make a positive contribution to the society in which they live. The charity operates an inclusive programme to help young people with troubled backgrounds from all over the world, regardless of circumstance. To date it has supported young people affected by poverty, war, hardship, discrimination, trauma and disability. www.wembleytosoweto.com

Stockard Channing is a multi-award-winning actress. She has received some eight Tony Award nominations for her theatre work Including originating the role of Ouisa Kittredge in Six Degrees of Separation both on Broadway and in the West End where she was nominated for an Olivier and an Obie Award, and subsequently was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award reprising her role for the 1993 film version. Stockard won the 1985 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the Broadway revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. 13 Emmy nominations and winner of three for First Lady Abbey Bartlet in The West Wing and The Matthew Shepard Story (receiving Screen Actors Guild Awards for both); and a Daytime Emmy Award for her role in Jack. Other television includes the recurring role of Veronica Loy on the CBS drama The Good Wife. Films include Mike Nichols’ The Fortune, Practical Magic, The First Wives Club, Moll Flanders, Up Close & Personal, Smoke, a London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year and an AFI Best Actress nomination for The Business of Strangers and Grease, earning a People’s Choice Award for her performance as Rizzo – to name but a few. This September Stockard reprises her role of Franny in the cinema release Practical Magic 2 alongside Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock.

David Westhead has been a leading actor with The Royal Court, The Royal National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and many of the UKs foremost regional theatre; playing principal roles in multi award-winning productions of Macbeth, The Changeling, The Prince's Play, The Man of Mode, Talk of the City, All My Sons, Tamburlaine, Travesties, The Odyssey and A Jovial Crew to name a few. He played Mickey in the original production of Mojo and created the leading role of Rochester in The Libertine, both at The Royal Court. David is known for his many TV and film roles including: W1A, Strike, Star Wars, Enola Holmes, The Bodyguard, and has just returned from shooting a new Netflix series in Rome and a film in Los Angeles, via Mexico to attend the Street Child World Cup with young people from The Wembley To Soweto Foundation.

For further information, interviews, review tickets please contact Deborah Goodman at DGPR
publicity@dgpr.co.uk / +44 (0)208 959 9980 / +44 (0)7958 611218