Written in French in 1956, Act Without Words II is a 10-minute mime involving two players, A and B, who are in two large sacks on the stage. Beckett specified violent lighting and extended the notion by having the players prodded into action by a goad. A is slow, awkward and absent whereas B is brisk, rapid, precise. A emerges slowly to set about his banal routine. Dishevelled and sulky, he eventually undresses and re-enters the sack. At this point, the goad prods B into action. He embarks on a more complicated routine, checking his watch and moving briskly to relocate the sacks on the stage before retiring back to his own sack. The goad, now on two wheels, awakens A and the cycle continues.This mime should be played on a low and narrow platform at back of stage, violently lit in its entire length, the rest of the stage being in darkness. Frieze effect.– Act Without Words II