This post was originally written on 17th June, 2009.
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Tonight we went to watch Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, a tragi-comedy. (Also see my review of Krapp’s Last Tape.) The production stars Ian McKellen (Estragon) and Patrick Stewart (Vladimir). I really enjoyed the show, especially Ian McKellen who was very funny and endearing. I was also deeply moved by the overpowering sadness of the play. I found the second act in which Pozzo (played by Simon Callow) and Lucky (played by Ronald Pickup) return particularly disturbing, as they come back blind and deaf respectively. They seem to have changed drastically from before. These changes suggest many possibilities for the fate of the characters. How long have Estragon and Vladimir been waiting? Is it only one day as Vladimir insists, or has it been much longer? Do Vladimir and Estragon even exist? In the end, Pozzo cannot see Vladimir and Estragon; and Lucky cannot speak to the tramps. Worse, Estragon’s memories are fading and Vladimir requires reassurance from the boys who come with Godot’s message that they can actually see him.
Finally, I found Lucky’s speech at the end of the first act very engaging. The idea that he can only speak under certain circumstances is heart-breaking. When the hat is put on his head, thus enabling him to speak his thoughts, he begins speaking as if it were his only chance to say everything that is in his mind. Watching him endlessly pouring out words that at first seem only half intelligible reminds me of some occassions when I tried to make my ideas understood and failed.
The full text of Waiting for Godot.
From the play:
(suddenly furious.) Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time! It’s abominable! When! When! One day, is that not enough for you, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day we’ll go deaf, one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you? (Calmer.) They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more. — Pozzo in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot
3 Responses “Waiting for Godot at Theatre Royal Haymarket” →
naperville mom
June 17, 2009
Gosh! I’ve to see this now…:)
June 18, 2009
Did you just oh so casually and in passing mention that you saw a live production (of anything!!!!) with both Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart? Shizer, I got to get me to London.
t
June 18, 2009
Lawrence G. commented on Facebook: “And now you have to read The Trilogy, followed by a crash course of Pinter and Coetzee. And then head off to Thomas Love Peacock and Laurence Sterne rather than Joyce.”
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Cha 