Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett’s Sardonic Lament on the 20th Century
PICT Classic Theatre..JoAnn R. Forrester, Empress of Biz.
Good theater, a play well acted, leaves an
impression with the audience for a couple of hours, or maybe a day or two.
A great play well acted, stays on one’s mind for days and often leaves
haunting lingering questions. Such as it is with the PICT and their presentation
of Waiting for Godot”.
 |
| James FitzGerald, Martin Giles |
Samuel
Beckett's play, Waiting for Godot, is purposefully
designed to tease, taunt and torment an audience with its dark humor and
confusing plot laced with sardonic laments
of its main characters, Estragon and Vladimir.
Two friends, caught in their own
world of forgetfulness and sometimes shared memories. They wait...they complain, they wait...they're hungry,they wait...they're bored...they wait.
They wait cemented together in their refusal to break free of the
interminable waiting.
Then aha...a break comes-Pozzo,
( Alan Stanford) the pompous “rich man” carrying a whip and loaded with the
burden of his self importance and Lucky (Ken Bolden),the human mule,dying inch
by inch from the lack of expectation.
The interplay between the two created a strong reaction in me. I wanted to stand up and yell, “Stop being
his human mule, his jackass, kick him,
bite him, leave him wallowing in his own self indulgence.” Great acting gentlemen.
 |
| Martin Giles, Ken Bolden, James FitzGerald, Alan Stanford |
Our two main characters, Estragon (Martin
Giles) and Vladimir (James FitzGerald) play exceptionally well off one
another. They reminded me of a despairing
and doomed version of Laurel and
Hardy, forever caught in a confusing
no-mans land. Two friends bonded
together for 30 years. They are at the
end of their road, depleted, weak, fading memories and poverty stricken and yet
they cling to one another without remembering
the rhyme or reason of the bond. Each
act at the end has a slender shred of hope dangled by the young boy (Elliott
Pullen) who appears delivering the
message that Godot cannot appear
today--but please wait for tomorrow.
Often during the play I
found myself wanting to stand up and shout, “Hey, wait a minute...what the do you mean by this? What
do you think audience? Let’s discuss this." After the play, my friend and I had a lengthy
conversation on the meaning of the play. We both had different spins on the play and
what we thought Samuel Beckett was
trying to create. Was it to whine in
despair? Or to explain the last 20 years of war and insanity? Or was it to wail
a lament on dire conditions of mid 20th century mankind, or was it to challenge , to prod to make us move and
examine out lives of quiet desperation?
 |
| Martin Giles, James Fitzgerald |
Kudo’s to the PICT, its
director, Aoife Spillan-Hinks, and the fine crew for presenting this thought provoking
performance of Samuel Beckett's play. The
only thing I wish would have been different, that I could have stood up and yelled hey and started asking questions of everyone and how
the play spoke to them. Aha...maybe next time!
PS…I just loved that
Alan Standford, had to keep his promise of shaving off his famous trademark
beard if so much money was raised. Thank
you for your sacrifice and fine leadership of Pittsburgh finest Classical Theater.
Written By: JoAnn R. Forrester
Host of Empress of Biz
Anchor Internet Radio Show on PositivelyPittsburghLiveMagazine.com
JoAnn R. Forrester is co-host of the Empress of Biz Talkcast and co-founder, president and partner in S. I. Business Associates, Small Business Solutions, LLC and Celebrate and Share. She is an entrepreneur, writer, business growth specialist, teacher, columnist and award winning writer. JoAnn specializes in helping small businesses grow and prosper. She is the co-developer of the PRICE IT PERFECT™ cost management system for small business, and has secured over 40 million dollars in loans and investment for her clients.
For more information visit Empress of Biz on PPLmag.com
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