Social isolation is a thing that can secretly saunter into a person's life and grow like an cancerous tumor until it overtakes the unfortunate individual's life. There are various types of isolationism and none are as bad as the type that takes hold of a person and forces him or her into life in seclusion for fear of the rest of the world. This type of isolation is perfectly encapsulated in the one act play Krapp's Late Tape, written by Irish playwright Samuel Beckett in 1958. The story centers around an individual named Krapp who makes a tape recording once a year, on his birthday, that retraces the events of his past 365 days. The play opens with Krapp sitting down for his 69th birthday with his trusty tape recorder to recount his past year. But when he starts to open up to his recorder, the flood gates are opened and a rush of lifelong memories come flowing back and nearly over take him.
