Issues of written text translation as an act of destruction or preservation are considered as mirroring issues raised in the construction of a performance 'text', taking into account the roles of director, designers and actors in positioning the dramatic text within a proposed mise en scène. An analysis is offered of how the two processes, both involved with the construction of signifying systems for the stage, may be allowed to inform one another, specifically in considering the authorship of a performance from or through a dramatic piece of writing. References are to the stage work of Samuel Beckett, his collaborators, translators, interpreters and defenders, including the attitudes of the author and his estate to the 'manipulation' or 'abuse' of his work in a variety of cultural contexts.