Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s 1953 play Waiting For Godot was written in French and premiered at Théâtre de Babylone in Paris. An English translation of the play made its way to London a couple of years later and has been voted the “most significant English-language play of the 20th century”.
Purgatory. Two men, Vladimir and Estragon find themselves alone, under a lifeless tree in a barren land. They are waiting … for Godot – whoever or whatever that may be. Lucian Msamati (Game of Thrones, Amadeus) plays Estragon, the inquisitive, childlike character who just seems happy to be there and Ben Whishaw (James Bond, Paddington) plays Vladimir, the confused but hopeful leader of the two who may or may not have met a man called Godot.
Bored and alone, they ponder on the meaning of life until two strange characters walk past. Lucky – the mute, crazy eyed slave played by Tom Edden (Crazy For You, Cyrano De Bergerac) and Pozzo, the upper-class master, on his way to market to try to sell his slave, played by Jonathan Slinger (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, title roles in Richard II and Richard III in RSC Histories).
The cast of this production are fantastic. At this performance the small role of The Boy was played by Alexander Joseph who has very little to do and must be of great importance to the plot should you ever figure out what that is. Despite the confusing story, the acting and the beautiful (but simple) set design and lighting, make this production a joy to watch. I had a lovely time, not knowing what was happening but not really caring, like Estragon, I just felt happy to be there, watching as life unfolded for the characters.
A friend of mine summed it up perfectly.
It’s about us.
Everyday.
Pretending there’s something bigger coming.
And how we spend our time in the interim.
For something that might never come.
Is it a metaphor for life? Life is what you make it and if you allow yourself to meander through it aimlessly, it won’t be interesting but if you dare to wander, the possibilities are endless and flowers can bloom. Or you could just hang yourself from a lifeless tree.
If Jamie Lloyd staged a production of Waiting For Godot, I imagine there would be two characters waiting at a bus stop. Video screens would show busses with no numbers, or destinations, pulling up and then leaving, whilst the characters never attempt to board. Two homeless men would walk past and stop for a chat. At the end, the two men would decide to walk home and come back tomorrow to wait for the bus.
Waiting For Godot left me thinking and questioning and sometimes that is the mark of a sensational show.
West End Wilma
