以法文創作的愛爾蘭劇作家貝克特究竟有多少「愛爾蘭性」（Irishness），一直是英語及法語學界爭論的焦點之一。然而，《等待果陀》卻是一齣可以絲毫不沾法國味或愛爾蘭味，而能打動諸多國家觀眾的荒謬劇場經典。在全球化的脈絡下，如果貝克特在一九五○年代創作的「反劇」的確存在著「愛爾蘭性」，這樣的文化特性是不是還歷久彌新？是不是提供繼起的各國導演、編劇、演員一個反思文化傳統的平台？本文將追溯一九六六年台灣《劇場》雜誌社，首演《等待果陀》以降，各劇團如何以不同手法改編貝克特的劇作。這些改編反映劇場界面對台灣社會邁向多元化、民主化過程，所面臨的困境，與亟欲開創的表演新局。本文將討論各演出如何嫁接東西方不同的文化元素，也將透過當時的社會脈絡，來檢視對台灣往後劇場界的影響。

One of the controversies in Beckettian studies is whether his Irishness is discernible in his drama, much of which was first written in French. Although the debate remains unsettled, researchers, including Vivian Mercier, Sighle Kennedy, and Eoin O’Brien, have argued that the playwright presented humor and satire dear to the Anglo-Irish mind, which Jonathan Swift and Oscar Wilde had previously utilized to tackle Irish and British issues in a cynical tone. In the view of these critics, Beckett, succeeding to this satirical tradition and having been an exile to the European mainland, like James Joyce and many of his Irish contemporaries, renovated this tradition by utilizing minimalism and absurdism. A number of critics have thus endeavored to unearth the playwright’s disillusion about, or criticism of, religion, life, and politics in his most obscure art. More specifically, his sense of Irishness was re-characterized in his works, no longer confined to the highly politicized and insular definition agreeable to local activists. To more accurately elaborate how Beckett’s Irishness has created a dialogic platform for the Irish and the world theatre, this paper will exemplify the way in which Taiwan’s theatre groups have adapted and contextualized his plays in a post-modern Asian society which is not less politically divided than the Emerald Isle. Beckett’s drama, consequently, provides Asian directors with more than a utopian but physical approach not only to the issues of identity and language but to complex human conditions that predestine Gogo and Didi’s desperation and helplessness in Waiting for Godot. The intertextuality of Beckett’s drama and its re-adaptations for Taiwan’s audience may thus illustrate how the significance of Irishness can be made inter-culturally available in a border-crossing situation. The skepticism and obscurity of his works may be made more apparent by observing how Asian directors, who mostly received higher education at western institutions, have produced them as vehicles of their own cultural and political agenda, and as a means to connect Taiwan’s modern theatres with European ones in an age of globalization. Their productions demonstrate the extent to which Beckett has maintained far-reaching influence over his counterparts in world theatre. Materials to be examined include theatrical reviews of Beckettian productions in Taiwan, interviews with directors, journalistic reportage, and translations of the scripts. Beckett’s plays which have been staged in Taiwan since 1988 include Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Play, What Where, Come and Go, Footfalls, Act without Words I, Act without Words II, and Ohio Impromptu.