Going to plays and seeing some great acting used to be part of our culture, but now with television, the theater has lost most of its popularity and is not truly appreciated anymore.The Gate Theatre of Dublin will perform at the Drake Performance and Event Center (formerly Drake Union) tonight and tomorrow night. This is an unusual appearance because they very rarely tour the United States.The Gate Theatre will be performing two classic plays written by Samuel Beckett, a 20th century writer.”Krapp’s Last Tape” is a one-man show. David Kelly, a 40-year Gate Theatre veteran and star of the film “Waking Ned Devine,” will star in the role about a man who makes a recording each year on his birthday about the past year of his life. On his 69th birthday, he plays the tape from 30 years ago which brings on feelings of regret, failure, loneliness and depression.Lesley Ferris, chairwoman of the Department of Theater at Ohio State, said “Krapp’s Last Tape” is very funny but tragic. “It is an introspective analysis of one’s relationship to their own humanity and their existence on this planet,” Ferris said.”Waiting for Godot” is a tragic comedy about two tramps waiting for someone who is possibly god.Chuck Helm, director of the performing arts at the Wexner Center, said he has seen the play “Waiting for Godot” performed, but not by the Gate Theatre. He said with them performing the play, it will make it that much better because of their acting ability.”Godot is a classic existentialist drama about modern man in a perpetual state of anxiety and waiting for something that may or may not ever materialize,” Helm said.Helm said that everyone should go see the Gate Theatre because it is remarkable that the Wexner Center got them to come to Columbus.”You get an opportunity to see one of the finest ensembles in the world do some keystone pieces of 20th century literature,” Helm said. After the Tuesday show of “Waiting for Godot” there will be a post performance discussion.On Wednesday afternoon, the Gate Theatre will be doing a reading of Beckett’s “An Ohio Impromptu” for theater students and talk with them afterwards.”An Ohio Impromptu” has become one of Beckett’s standard shorter works, said Alan Woods, director of the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at OSU.”Beckett wrote it for a Beckett Symposium held in 1981 to mark Beckett’s 75th birthday,” Woods said.The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 and has since become world renowned for their masterpieces being extremely influential on contemporary drama.Helm said that the Gate Theatre is by far one of the best theater companies in the world. He said that with them performing a Beckett piece it makes it all the more memorable.”Beckett is an acknowledged modern master and the Gate Theatre is known for its definitive productions of his work,” Helm said. Actors such as Orson Welles, James Mason, and Geraldine Chaplin have all worked for the Gate Theatre in the past.”Krapp’s Last Tape” is taking place on tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Bowen Theatre at the Drake Performance and Event Center with tickets costing $20 for general public and $18 for Wexner Center members, students and senior citizens.”Waiting for Godot” will be performed on tonight and tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. in the Thurber Theatre at the Drake Performance and Event Center with tickets costing $25 for general public and $22 for Wexner Center members, students and senior citizens.