Can anyone explain Samuel Beckett's Endgame to me?

haven't read or seen it in a while, but it's really just beckett playing around with his favorite themes, much as in (although perhaps not quite as effectively) Godot. Basically mining an exaggerated sense of human misery, hopelessness, etc. for a kind of dour slapstick -- thus "theater of the absurd" (because existence is inherently absurd). I'd say the central theme or concept he plays is that you're fucked no matter what you do, so you might as well see the humor in the situation. The characters live a pretty bleak existence, and about the only good thing that can said about their lives is that they're not dead. And even they recognized that it's arguable whether that's even an advantage -- but are scared of death and prefer the devil they know. Much the same could be said about their relationship: people suck, and the only reason to put up with them is that the only alternative is to be completely alone. Anyway, I don't think over-explanation, or over-thinking, are likely to make it "click" for you. Beckett, in my opinion, is more an intuitive than an acquired taste. For the most part, I imagine you either find his stuff mordantly funny, or you don't. I enjoy it, or at least the best of it. But if it doesn't come off as funny on first impression, no amount of explication is like to make you suddenly "understand" the humor. Then again, maybe you just a really poor production.

beckett and joyce are among my least favorites

racist

I'm seeing it on the 28th...five days before I get married..."Endgame"..."married"...hmmmmmm

I know Beckett always denied that it's specifically post-nuclear. Obviously, the bleakness of the setting has parallels to Godot. I don't really remember the specifics well enough to cast any light on the other questions, except to say that to the best of my recollection role confusion and the like may well be intentional.

I think the lack of a plot is integral to the work, though (again, somewhat like Godot -- the fact that nothing happens is kind of the point, to the extent there is a point). I don't think you missed it -- it's absent by design. Kind of: it's absurd to pretend anything ever really happens, because the only important thing that's ever going to happen is that you're going to die.