"Waiting for Godot" was an instant success when
it debuted at the Théatre de Babylone in Paris in January 1953. It ran for
400 performances and received critical praise from such
writers as Tennessee Williams, Jean Anouilh, Thornton Wilder and
William Saroyan. Greeted with jeers and boo's from some audience members
at its London and American premieres - and many times since - it has,
nevertheless, enjoyed countless productions and rabid fans around the
world for nearly 60 years. Arguably the most famous example of
Theatre of the Absurd, a form of drama in which traditional plot,
characters and action are discarded, "Godot" creates a surreal
theatrical experience.
As Didi and Gogo remain stuck in a devastated landscape
awaiting the arrival of a mysterious man who - spoiler alert - never
arrives, "Waiting for Godot'' takes on unexpected immediacy
and poignancy in the wake of the earthquake that devastated Haiti last week.
As we watch two men waiting interminably for either rescue or death, who
can escape the mental overlay of tragic live-feed videos from
Port-au-Prince, seared permanently on our collective visual cortex?
A Noise Within reprises for the third consecutive year
its critically applauded production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting
For Godot." Running now through Sunday, January 24, the play features a
uniformly excellent ensemble cast including Mark Bramhall (Lucky), Robertson
Dean (Vladimir), Mitch Edmonds (Pozzo), Owen Sholar (Boy) and
Joel Swetow (Estragon).
Director Andrew Traister describes his production as
"a straightforward reading of the play. It is simply about two men waiting,
but there was a definite desire to make these real men, with real
problems, in a real relationship." He also notes that the special
challenge of directing an absurdist play is "understanding what the absurdity
is and clearly defining it for the audience so they know what they are
laughing at. There are no added extraneous bits that confuse the
meaning of the play."
This production contains no startling revelations,
possibly because after decades of erudite debate, and thousands of
directors fiddling with the "meaning' of the text, there are no
revelations to be had. ANW's stark and unembellished telling allows the audience
to respond authentically, unguided by the bludgeon of 'inspiration.'
What it all may mean remains up to the viewer. Didi and Gogo cling to
the flickering faith that Godot will come. Godot will bring
answers. Godot will bring meaning. Godot will bring happiness. But help
does not arrive. Not today. And, in the ruins of failed Socialism,
robbed of will and volition, "there is nothing to be
done." So that is what they do: nothing.
"Waiting for Godot" may well be the ultimate 20th
century statement on existential futility, penned as it was in the wake of the
atom bomb. But it's also a superbly well-crafted piece, which
precisely matches form to content to historic period, while holding the
mirror to its audience. As Kenneth Tynan wrote of Beckett's doomed
misfortunates after the infamous London premiere in 1955: "Were we
not in the theater, we should, like them, be clowning and
quarreling, aimlessly bickering and aimlessly making up - all, as one of them
says, 'to give the impression that we exist.' "