Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett

1950s to 1969

France and Germany

"[O]n 17 February 1952 ... an abridged version of the play was performed in the studio of the Club d'Essai de la Radio and was broadcast on [French] radio ... [A]lthough he sent a polite note that Roger Blin read out, Beckett himself did not turn up."[111] Part of his introduction reads:

I don't know who Godot is. I don't even know (above all don't know) if he exists. And I don't know if they believe in him or not – those two who are waiting for him. The other two who pass by towards the end of each of the two acts, that must be to break up the monotony. All I knew I showed. It's not much, but it's enough for me, by a wide margin. I'll even say that I would have been satisfied with less. As for wanting to find in all that a broader, loftier meaning to carry away from the performance, along with the program and the Eskimo pie, I cannot see the point of it. But it must be possible ... Estragon, Vladimir, Pozzo, Lucky, their time and their space, I was able to know them a little, but far from the need to understand. Maybe they owe you explanations. Let them supply it. Without me. They and I are through with each other.[112]

The play was first published in September 1952 by Les Éditions de Minuit[113][114] and released on 17 October 1952 in advance of the first full theatrical performance;[115] only 2500 copies were printed of this first edition.[116] On 4 January 1953, "[t]hirty reviewers came to the générale of En attendant Godot before the public opening ... Contrary to later legend, the reviewers were kind ... Some dozen reviews in daily newspapers range[d] from tolerant to enthusiastic ... Reviews in the weeklies [were] longer and more fervent; moreover, they appeared in time to lure spectators to that first thirty-day run"[117] which began on 5 January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. Early public performances were not, however, without incident: during one performance "the curtain had to be brought down after Lucky's monologue as twenty, well-dressed, but disgruntled spectators whistled and hooted derisively ... One of the protesters [even] wrote a vituperative letter dated 2 February 1953 to Le Monde."[118]

The cast comprised Pierre Latour (Estragon), Lucien Raimbourg (Vladimir), Jean Martin (Lucky) and Roger Blin (Pozzo). The actor due to play Pozzo found a more remunerative role and so the director – a shy, lean man in real life – had to step in and play the stout bombaster himself with a pillow amplifying his stomach. Both boys were played by Serge Lecointe. The entire production was done on the thinnest of shoestring budgets; the large battered valise that Martin carried "was found among the city's refuse by the husband of the theatre dresser on his rounds as he worked clearing the dustbins",[119] for example. Blin helped the actors embody their characters by asking them to determine a physical malady that would contribute to the nature of their character.[120] Latour emphasized Estragon's bad feet and Raimbourg Vladimir's prostate problems, while Blin played Pozzo as a man with heart difficulties. Martin played Lucky with the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.[121]

A particularly significant production – from Beckett's perspective – took place in Lüttringhausen Prison near Remscheid in Germany. An inmate obtained a copy of the French first edition, translated it himself into German and obtained permission to stage the play. The first night had been on 29 November 1953. He wrote to Beckett in October 1954: "You will be surprised to be receiving a letter about your play Waiting for Godot, from a prison where so many thieves, forgers, toughs, homos, crazy men and killers spend this bitch of a life waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting. Waiting for what? Godot? Perhaps."[122] Beckett was intensely moved and intended to visit the prison to see a last performance of the play but it never happened. This marked "the beginning of Beckett's enduring links with prisons and prisoners ... He took a tremendous interest in productions of his plays performed in prisons."[123]

UK

Like all of Beckett's translations, the English translation of Waiting for Godot is not simply a literal translation of En attendant Godot. "Small but significant differences separate the French and English text. Some, like Vladimir's inability to remember the farmer's name (Bonnelly[124]), show how the translation became more indefinite, attrition and loss of memory more pronounced."[125] A number of biographical details were removed, all adding to a general "vaguening"[126] of the text which he continued to trim for the rest of his life.

The English-language premiere was on 3 August 1955 at the Arts Theatre, London, directed by the 24-year-old Peter Hall. During an early rehearsal Hall told the cast "I haven't really the foggiest idea what some of it means ... But if we stop and discuss every line we'll never open."[127] Again, the printed version preceded it (New York: Grove Press, 1954) but Faber's "mutilated" edition did not materialise until 1956. A "corrected" edition was subsequently produced in 1965. "The most accurate text is in Theatrical Notebooks I, (Ed.) Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson (Faber and Grove, 1993). It is based on Beckett's revisions for his Schiller-Theater production (1975) and the London San Quentin Drama Workshop, based on the Schiller production but revised further at the Riverside Studios (March 1984)."[128]

In the 1950s, theatre was strictly censored in the UK, to Beckett's amazement since he thought it a bastion of free speech. The Lord Chamberlain insisted that the word "erection" be removed, " 'Fartov' became 'Popov' and Mrs Gozzo had 'warts' instead of 'clap' ".[129] Indeed, there were attempts to ban the play completely. Lady Dorothy Howitt wrote to the Lord Chamberlain, saying: "One of the many themes running through the play is the desire of two old tramps continually to relieve themselves. Such a dramatisation of lavatory necessities is offensive and against all sense of British decency."[130] "The first unexpurgated version of Godot in England ... opened at the Royal Court on 30 December 1964."[131]

The London run was not without incident. The actor Peter Bull, who played Pozzo, recalls the reaction of that first night audience:

Waves of hostility came whirling over the footlights, and the mass exodus, which was to form such a feature of the run of the piece, started quite soon after the curtain had risen. The audible groans were also fairly disconcerting ... The curtain fell to mild applause, we took a scant three calls (Peter Woodthorpe reports only one curtain call[132]) and a depression and a sense of anti-climax descended on us all.[133]

The critics were less than kind but "[e]verything changed on Sunday 7 August 1955 with Kenneth Tynan's and Harold Hobson's reviews in The Observer and The Sunday Times. Beckett was always grateful to the two reviewers for their support ... which more or less transformed the play overnight into the rage of London."[134] "At the end of the year, the Evening Standard Drama Awards were held for the first time ... Feelings ran high and the opposition, led by Sir Malcolm Sargent, threatened to resign if Godot won [The Best New Play category]. An English compromise was worked out by changing the title of the award. Godot became The Most Controversial Play of the Year. It is a prize that has never been given since."[135]

On 27 April 1960, the BBC Third Programme broadcast the very first radio adaptation, directed by Donald McWhinnie, with Patrick Magee as Vladimir, Wilfrid Brambell as Estragon, Felix Felton as Pozzo, Donal Donnelly as Lucky and Jeremy Ward as The Boy.[136]

On 26 June 1961, Donald McWhinnie directed a production broadcast on BBC Television, with Jack MacGowran as Vladimir, Peter Woodthorpe as Estragon, Felix Felton as Pozzo, Timothy Bateson as Lucky and Mark Mileham as The Boy.[137]

On 5 February 1962, the BBC Home Service broadcast a radio production as part of the From the Fifties series, directed by Robin Midgley with Nigel Stock as Vladimir, Kenneth Griffith as Estragon, Philip Leaver as Pozzo, Andrew Sachs as Lucky and Terry Raven as The Boy.[138]

In December 1964, Nicol Williamson played Vladimir, Alfred Lynch played Estragon and Jack MacGowran played Lucky in a production at London's Royal Court Theatre directed by Anthony Page. This was the first West End revival since the play's British première.

US

Planning for an American tour for Waiting for Godot started in 1955. The first American tour was directed by Alan Schneider and produced by Michael Myerberg. Bert Lahr and Tom Ewell acted in the initial production.

The first part of the tour was a disaster. The play was originally set to be shown in Washington and Philadelphia. However, low advance sales forced the play to be performed in Miami for two weeks in early January 1956 at the newly opened Coconut Grove Playhouse, where the audience was made up of vacationers.[139] It had been promoted as "the laugh sensation of two continents" in the notices run by Myerberg in the local newspapers.[139]

Most audience members were baffled by the play.[140][141][142][143][144][145][146] Theatregoers would leave after the first act, describing it as a play where "nothing happens", and taxi drivers would wait in front of the theatre to take them home.[147][148] The Miami showing caused the cancellation of the showings in New York.

By April 1956, new showings were planned. That month, Schneider and most of the cast were replaced. Herbert Berghof took over as director and E. G. Marshall replaced Tom Ewell as Vladimir.[149] The play had its Broadway premiere at the John Golden Theatre on 19 April 1956, with Bert Lahr as Estragon, E. G. Marshall as Vladimir, Alvin Epstein as Lucky, and Kurt Kasznar as Pozzo.[150] The New York showing of the play prompted discussions of the play being an allegory. One reviewer, Henry Hewes of the Saturday Review, identified Godot as God, Pozzo as a capitalist-aristocrat, and Lucky as labour-proletarian.[149] This prompted Beckett to issue a rare statement, stating that the reaction was based on a misconception of the play. To Beckett, the play tries not to be able to be defined.[151] The New York showing of the play was well-received with critics. Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times praised Lahr for his performance as Estragon.[152] The production was recorded as a two-record album by Columbia Masterworks Records.[153]

In 1957, four years after its world premiere, Waiting for Godot was staged for one night only at the San Quentin State Prison in California. Herbert Blau with the San Francisco Actor's Workshop directed the production. Some 1,400 inmates encountered the performance.[154] Beckett later gave Rick Cluchey, a former prisoner from San Quentin, financial and moral support over a period of many years.[123] Cluchey played Vladimir in two productions in the former Gallows room of the San Quentin California State Prison, which had been converted into a 65-seat theatre and, like the German prisoner before him, went on to work on a variety of Beckett's plays after his release. Cluchey said, "The thing that everyone in San Quentin understood about Beckett, while the rest of the world had trouble catching up, was what it meant to be in the face of it."[155] The attitude of this troupe was to move it away from a commercial attitude to an avant garde attitude.[156] As well, the play did not have competition between the actors playing Vladimir and Estragon for being the star of the show.[157] The most successful showing was in November 1957 at the San Quentin prison, where the play had a profound impact on the inmates and spurred them to start a drama group in the prison. They would go on to produce seven of Beckett's works.[158] In 1958, the play, produced by the San Francisco Actor's Workshop, would be chosen to go to Brussels for the 1958 World's Fair.[159]

The first Broadway revival was produced in 1957 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre directed by Herbert Berghof, but only ran for six performances (January 21–26).[160] It had an all-Black cast, including Earle Hyman as Vladimir, Mantan Moreland as Estragon, Rex Ingram as Pozzo and Geoffrey Holder as Lucky. This rendition of Waiting for Godot played on themes of the Africana absurd as opposed to the European absurd. For example, Hyman's career as a classical actor and Moreland's as a vaudeville actor were used to juxtapose the different facets of African American theatre in the mind of the audience.[161]

Also in May 1957, a production directed by Walter Biakel was staged at the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago with Harvey Korman as Vladimir, Louis Zorich as Estragon, Moultrie Patten as Pozzo and Mike Nichols as Lucky.[162]

In 1965, a production at the Olney Theatre in Olney, Maryland starred Dana Elcar as "Vladimir" and Stefan Gierasch as "Estragon" as part of A Festival of the Absurd.

Australia

In the Australian premiere at the Arrow Theatre in Melbourne in 1957, Barry Humphries played Estragon opposite Peter O'Shaughnessy's Vladimir.[163]

Canada

Waiting for Godot was first performed at the Stratford Festival in 1968 at the Avon Theatre in a production directed by William Hutt, with Powys Thomas as Vladimir, Eric Donkin as Estragon, James Blendick as Pozzo, Adrian Pecknold as Lucky and Douglas Birkenshaw as The Boy.[164]

South Africa

The very first South African production was performed in 1955 at the Little Theatre in Cape Town, produced by Leonard Schach, with Gavin Haughton as Vladimir, Alec Bell as Estragon, Donald Inskip as Lucky, Gordon Roberts as Pazzo and Frank Rothgiesser as The Boy.[165] The play was also presented at the Hofmeyr Theatre and then taken on a tour of several country towns in South Africa.

Brazil

After a few amateur productions in the 1950s, the first professional staging of the play in Brazil happened in 1969, directed by Flávio Rangel and staged by actress Cacilda Becker as Estragon and her real-life husband, actor Walmor Chagas as Vladimir. After few performances, on May 6, 1969, Becker had a stroke and collapsed during the intermission. She was immediately taken to a hospital, still wearing the play's costume, and remained in a coma for 38 days until her passing on June 14.[166]

Poland

The Polish premiere took place on 25 January 1957, at Teatr Współczesny in Warsaw. directed by Jerzy Kreczmar and featuring Tadeusz Fijewski as Vladimir and Józef Kondrat as Estragon.[167] The Polish premiere was the fifth in the world and the first in the Communist Bloc.[168]

1970s to 2000

In 1977, PBS broadcast an adaptation for television directed by Charles S. Dubin and performed by the Los Angeles Actors' Theatre, with Dana Elcar as Vladimir, Donald Moffat as Estragon, Ralph Waite as Pozzo and Bruce French as Lucky.[169]

On 4 September 1977, as part of the British television series Drama, the Open University filmed a production of Godot directed by Richard Callanan with Leo McKern as Estragon, Max Wall as Vladimir, Graham Crowden as Pozzo, Basil Clarke as Lucky and Toby Page as The Boy.[170]

In 1978, a production was staged by Walter Asmus at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City with Sam Waterston as Vladimir, Austin Pendleton as Estragon, Milo O'Shea as Lucky and Michael Egan as Pozzo.[171]

A young Geoffrey Rush played Vladimir opposite his then flatmate Mel Gibson as Estragon in 1979 at the Jane Street Theatre in Sydney.[172]

In 1980, Braham Murray directed a production at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester with Max Wall as Vladimir, Trevor Peacock as Estragon and Wolfe Morris as Pozzo.[173]

Also in 1980, a production was performed at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, directed by Donald Howarth, with John Kani ("Vladimir"), Winston Ntshona ("Estragon"), Pieter-Dirk Uys ("Pozzo"), Peter Piccolo ("Lucky") and Silamour Philander ("The Boy").[165] The multiracial cast, approved by Beckett himself, caused quite a stir, but the play received good reviews. After the Cape Town run, the play was also performed at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, the Port Elizabeth Opera House, and the Market Theatre, Johannesburg (where it ran for three weeks). In 1981, the production went on an international tour to the US and Britain, with Bill Flynn replacing Uys as "Pozzo". The tour included New Haven, Connecticut, The Old Vic Theatre in London and the Oxford Playhouse in Oxford. It was also invited to participate in the First International Baltimore Theatre Festival but on arrival the play was picketed by anti-Apartheid demonstrators who claimed that it and the Baxter Theatre were "part and parcel of the South African propaganda machine to misrepresent what was taking place in the country", so the performances were canceled.

The 1984 Stratford Festival production of Waiting for Godot, directed by Leon Rubin, was performed at the Tom Patterson Theatre, with Brian Bedford as Vladimir, Edward Abenza as Estragon, Andreas Katsulas as Pozzo, Paul Zimet as Lucky and Adam Poynter as The Boy.[174]

The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center was the site of a 1988 revival directed by Mike Nichols, featuring Robin Williams (Estragon), Steve Martin (Vladimir), Bill Irwin (Lucky), F. Murray Abraham (Pozzo), and Lukas Haas (boy). With a limited run of seven weeks and an all-star cast, it was financially successful,[175] but the critical reception was not particularly favourable, with Frank Rich of The New York Times writing, "Audiences will still be waiting for a transcendent Godot long after the clowns at Lincoln Center, like so many others passing through Beckett's eternal universe before them, have come and gone."[176]

The play was revived in London's West End at the Queen's Theatre in a production directed by Les Blair, which opened on 30 September 1991. Rik Mayall played Vladimir and Adrian Edmondson played Estragon, with Philip Jackson as Pozzo and Christopher Ryan as Lucky; the boy was played by Dean Gaffney and Duncan Thornley. Derek Jarman provided the scenic design, in collaboration with Madeleine Morris.[177]

In 1992, in what would be his last stage appearance, Dana Elcar reprised his 1965 stage role and 1977 TV movie role of Vladimir in a 1992 Los Angeles production at the Santa Paula Theatre Center directed by Deborah LaVine.[178]

On 3 September 1994, a rare French-language recording of the play, recorded at the Theatre de Babylone shortly after the 1953 Paris premiere with the original cast and director (see above) was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.[179] The following day, 4 September 1994, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a production in English with Alan Howard as Vladimir, Michael Maloney as Estragon, Stratford Jones as Pozzo, Simon Russell Beale as Lucky, Tristan Moriarty as The Boy and Geraldine McEwan as The Narrator;[180] this production was rebroadcast on BBC Radio 3 30 June 1995 and 5 September 1999.

In 1996, the Stratford Festival staged a production directed by Brian Bedford, with Stephen Ouimette as Estragon, Tom McCamus as Vladimir, James Blendick as Pozzo, Tim MacDonald as Lucky and Joe Dinicol as The Boy.[181] The cast reunited in March 1997 to perform the play on CBC Radio's "Bank of Montreal Stratford Festival Series" and again at the Stratford Festival for the 1998 season at the Tom Patterson Theatre (with Philip Psutka replacing Dinicol as The Boy), again directed by Bedford.[182]

In June 1999, the Royal Exchange, Manchester staged a production directed by Matthew Lloyd with Richard Wilson as Vladimir, Brian Pettifer as Estragon and Nicky Henson as Pozzo.[183]

2000 to present

Neil Armfield directed a controversial production in January 2003 with Max Cullen as Estragon, John Gaden as Vladimir, Boddan Koca as Pozzo and Steve Le Marquand as Lucky at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre.[184] A representative of Beckett's estate was present at opening night and had believed a contract for the play had stated that no music was to be used in the production.[185]

On 16 April 2006, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a production directed by John Tydeman, with Sean Barrett as Vladimir, David Burke as Estragon, Nigel Anthony as Lucky and The Narrator, Terence Rigby as Pozzo and Zachary Fox as The Boy.[186]

On 2 and 3 November 2007, two performances were staged in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, two years after the neighborhood had been devastated by the failure of the federal levee system caused by Hurricane Katrina. This was followed by two performances in the similarly damaged neighborhood Gentilly on 9 and 10 November. The production was staged by American artist Paul Chan, the NYC-based arts organization Creative Time, and the Classical Theatre of Harlem. It featured New Orleans native Wendell Pierce as Vladimir and J. Kyle Manzay as Estragon.[187][188]

On 30 April 2009, a production directed by Sean Mathias, with Sir Ian McKellen as Estragon and Sir Patrick Stewart as Vladimir, opened at the Haymarket Theatre in London's West End. Their performances received critical acclaim, and were the subject of an eight-part documentary series called Theatreland, which was produced by Sky Arts. The production was revived at the same theatre in January 2010 for 11 weeks and in 2010 toured internationally with Roger Rees replacing Stewart as Vladimir.[189] This production toured to Adelaide, South Australia, in June 2010, playing at Her Majesty's.[190][191]

A 2009 Broadway revival of the play starring Nathan Lane as Estragon, John Goodman as Pozzo, John Glover as Lucky and Bill Irwin as Vladimir was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play (John Glover), and Best Costume Design of a Play (Jane Greenwood).[192][193]

In 2012, a critically acclaimed production starred Alan Mandell, Barry McGovern, James Cromwell, and Hugo Armstrong at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, receiving five Ovation Awards, including best production of a play by a large theater and for actors Alan Mandell and Hugo Armstrong.[194]

For the Stratford Festival's 61st season in 2013, Jennifer Tarver directed a new production at the Tom Patterson Theatre starring Brian Dennehy as Pozzo, Stephen Ouimette as Estragon, Tom Rooney as Vladimir and Randy Hughson as Lucky.[195]

A new production directed by Sean Mathias with Ian McKellen as Estragon, Patrick Stewart as Vladimir, Billy Crudup as Lucky and Shuler Hensley as Pozzo began previews at the Cort Theatre on Broadway on October 26, 2013, and ran from November 24, 2013, to March 30, 2014.[2][196][197][198]

The Sydney Theatre Company staged Godot in November 2013 with Richard Roxburgh as Estragon, Hugo Weaving as Vladimir, and Philip Quast as Pozzo, directed by Andrew Upton.[163]

In November 2018, the Druid Theater Company staged Godot at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in Manhattan starring Garrett Lombard, Aaron Monaghan, Marty Rea and Rory Nolan and directed by Garry Hynes.[199]

In October 2020, a production of Godot was performed at the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, South Africa, "the first physical event [before a live audience] since the start of South Africa's nationwide [COVID-19] lockdown earlier [that] year."[200] Directed by Phala Ookeditse Phala, the cast included Tony Bonani Miyambo as Estragon, Billy Langa as Vladimir, Jemma Kahn as Lucky and The Boy and Stefania Du Toit as Pozzo.

In May 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a production, directed by Scott Elliot with Ethan Hawke as Vladimir, John Leguizamo as Estragon, Wallace Shawn as Lucky and Tariq Trotter as Pozzo, was performed online in the style of a Zoom teleconference call with each actor performing on camera from their respective locations.[201] The production was presented by The New Group and broadcast by the Off Stage Broadway production company for rental or full-access pass.

In New York City, the Theatre for a New Audience staged a production from November 4, 2023 to December 3, 2023 (extended to December 23, 2023) with Paul Sparks as Estragon, Michael Shannon as Vladimir, Ajay Naidu as Pozzo, and Jeff Biehl as Lucky. It was directed by Arin Arbus.[202][203]

A new production directed by James Macdonald is scheduled to run in London's West End for a limited run with Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati as Vladimir and Estragon respectively. The show is scheduled to start performances from 13 September 2024 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Further casting is still to be announced.[204][205]