It’s said that when a friend of Samuel Beckett asked him to write a happy play, Happy Days was the result. Premiering in New York in 1961, it offers many comic moments, but they are dark indeed, and the overall mood of this absurdist theatre is far from chipper.

Indeed it’s a play about the inexorable drift toward existential oblivion, starkly represented by a woman called Winnie buried up to her waist, then to her neck, in a desolate mound of dirt. The only companion of this almost immobilised, constantly chattering character is her husband Willie, whom she rarely gets a response from, and sees even less.

Judith Lucy in Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Happy Days. Photo © Pia Johnson

Winnie is a demanding role loved by serious actors, but for this new production directed by Petra Kalive, Melbourne Theatre Company surprises by casting comedian Judith Lucy. Until recently a mainstay of Australia’s stand-up circuit, she has a proven ability to single-handedly hold an audience’s attention with clever words rather than colour and movement – so after the initial surprise, this casting makes sense on paper.

In reality it’s inspired, because...