Irish playwright Samuel Beckett wrote “Waiting for Godot”, the original show about nothing, four decades prior to the advent of Seinfeld on television. Jerry and Larry (David) may have gotten inspiration from this brilliant Beckett work. “Waiting” requires patience – those who meditate will feel the energy swirling all about them throughout. The ensemble cast is anchored by Vladimir (Anthony Marble) and Estragon (Derek Wilson) or Didi and Gogo as they call one another. This play gives us the ultimate cerebral conundrum – how much stirs beneath the surface while little seemingly happens. In actuality, Godot is the 20th century version of everything, all at once.
Originally written in French, Beckett translated the play to English himself. Consequently, while he made several changes over time, what we are seeing is like Shakespeare – directly from the hand of the master. Remember, people in the 1940s were just like us. They were our nearby ancestors who had the same foibles and sense of humor we do and Beckett is abundant with those gifts.
Marble and Wilson’s Didi and Gogo are so close that it begs the question – are they halves of the same coin? Are they partners, in every sense of the word? Singular characters, nothing to anchor them to any particular time or place, while they rarely finish one another’s sentence, they seem to be on the same wavelength with a nearly-visible thread bonding them. When Pozzo (Gregory Derelian) and the ironically named Lucky (Michael Stewart Allen) appear on the scene, let the mayhem begin.
Part of Beckett’s genius is the weaving of the genres of entertainment of his time into a stage play. There is vaudeville, absurdism, early psychological constructs and the beginnings of what we take for granted today in our understanding of the world. There is very stark reality in Monte’s set design – the sere, bare twig of a tree in Act I would have been a common sight with the scars of war on the face of most of Europe in the mid to late 1940s. Yet, the appearance of a just few leaves on the tree in Act II heralds a kind of hope.
What first appears as seemingly nonsensical syllogisms in the script are embellished by the physical comedy, and tragedy, in the hands of these expert actors. Marble, Wilson, Derelian and Allen are all company veterans and newcomer Jaya Chetram is now among some great actors of the stage. Didi and Estragon are giving a meta master class in acting. Their give-and-take hearkens to modern improvisation and their scripted interactions are as fresh as if we were eavesdropping on them. When Pozzo and Lucky do their initial pas de don’t, it is difficult to watch man’s inhumanity to man. When the reprise comes in the second act, the existential darkness deepens, then lifts and it is something you must experience for yourself. Bask in the play – analyze it later, just use your limbic brain to truly hear what Beckett is saying. See this show.
This dynamic cast and timeless work is STNJ Artistic Director Bonnie Monte’s final show as Director during her tenure. She hands the reigns over at the end of this season, in December. This show is an excellent choice, as fresh today as it was when Beckett wrote it with the spectre of World War II peering over his shoulder. October 1, “Waiting” is over, get your tickets now at www.ShakespeareNJ.org.