Waiting+for+Godot



//Waiting for Godot// is a play by Irish playwright, Samuel Beckett, which was published in 1953. It is known for its heavy use of symbolism and simple plot and setting.

=Characters=
 * **Vladimir** is one of the two main characters. He is the more responsible of the two and he views himself as the leader. He is called "Didi" by Estragon.[[image:theatrelitwiki/mcgovern_waitingforgodot.png width="179" height="112" align="right" caption="Vladimir played by Barry McGovern."]]
 * **Estragon** is the other main character. He is constantly seeking Vladimir's protection. He also has a bad memory and Vladimir constantly has to remind him of just about everything. He is known as "Gogo" by Vladimir.
 * **Pozzo** is a man who passes Vladimir and Estragon on the road. He has a tendency to look down on people, especially his slave. He is blind in the second act.
 * **Lucky** is Pozzo's slave. He does not say much and mainly just follows Pozzo around and obeys his every command.
 * **The Boy** is Godot's messenger. He appears at the end of each act only to tell Vladimir and Estragon that Godot will not be meeting them that day.
 * **Godot** is the person Vladimir and Estragon are supposed to meet. Neither man has actually met him nor does he ever make an appearance throughout the play.

=Setting= There is a very minimal setting in //Waiting for Godot//. In the script notes, it says, "A country road. A tree." The whole play takes place in the same location.

=Plot Summary= In Act I, Vladimir and Estragon meet on the country road near a tree. They talk about multiple things, such as Estragon's hat and the fact that Vladimir likes carrots. They also reveal that they are waiting for a man named Godot. Merchant Pozzo and his slave, Lucky, run into Vladimir and Estragon on their way to the market. Pozzo is going to the market to try and sell Lucky. They stop for Pozzo to talk to the two men and he has Lucky dance and think to entertain them before they continue on their way. Once they are gone, a boy comes in and tells Vladimir and Estragon that Godot is not coming today. Once the boy leaves, Vladimir and Estragon say they are going to leave as well, but they do not.

In Act II, Vladimir and Estragon meet in the same place they met the previous day. Pozzo and Lucky come back, but this time around, Pozzo is blind and Lucky is dumb. They do not have any recollection of meeting Vladimir and Estragon the day before and the leave as Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait for Godot. Once again, the boy comes along and tells the two men that Godot will not be coming today either. He also does not remember speaking to them the day before. Vladimir and Estragon once again decide to leave and once again, they do not before the play ends.

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=Awards= The 2009 revival of //Waiting for Godot// was nominated for multiple Tony Awards. It was nominated for Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, and Best Revival of a Play.

=Symbolism= There has been a lot of speculation on some symbolic elements that //Waiting for Godot// contains. According to samuel-beckett.net, there is a lot of symbolism as to why Beckett relied on the number four throughout the script of //Waiting for Godot//. The first instance of symbolism is the four main characters could represent the four gospels. The website compares Vladimir to Matthew because Matthew talked about the humanity of Jesus in his gospel and Vladimir is mainly the one who says he contacts Godot in the play. Pozzo is compared to Mark because Mark's gospel is called "The Gospel of Power" and Pozzo shows his power with his control over his slave. Lucky is compared to Luke because Luke's gospel showed Jesus' suffering and Lucky suffers in the play when he is poorly treated by Pozzo. Estragon is compared to John because John's gospel was written at a difficult time and Estragon is the weaker and more vulnerable character in the play.

According to Peter Hall in the January 4, 2003 edition of //The Guardian//, "It was seen as an allegory of the Cold War." This is due to the uncertainty of the play just like there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Cold War. Graham Hassell stated "[T]he intrusion of Pozzo and Lucky [...] seems like nothing more than a metaphor for Ireland's view of mainland Britain, where society has ever been blighted by a greedy ruling elite keeping the working classes passive and ignorant by whatever means" in the July 9, 1997 edition of //What's On' London//.

=Sequel= In 1966, Serbian playwright, Miodrag Bulatović, wrote a sequel to the play named //Godot Arrived//. Bulatović brings Godot in as a baker who ends up getting condemned to death by the four main characters.Beckett never allowed this sequel to take place. In his 1998 book, //From Desire to Godot//, Ruby Cohn said: "On the flyleaf of my edition of the Bulatović play, Beckett is quoted: 'I think all that has nothing to do with me" (Cohn, 171).

=Production History= According to St. Olaf's College theatre website, there were multiple notable performances of //Waiting for Godot//. The true premier of the show was an abridged version that was performed in the Studio of //Club d'Essai// and it was broadcast on French radio in 1952. The theatrical premier of the show was in 1953 at the Theatre de Babylon. In 1954, there was a performance of the show at Lüttringhausen prison after one of the inmates managed to get a copy of the script and translated it to German. In 1955, the first English version of the play was performed at the Arts Theatre in London. It was directed by the 24-year-old Peter Hall. According to a //New York Times// review titled "Decades Later, the Quest for Meaning Goes On," during a rehearsal, Hall said to 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." In 1988, there was an all-female production of the show done by De Haarlemse Toneelschur. Beckett brought this production to court since he had no women in the play originally. He said women did not fit the role of the men in the play and he also claimed that he was never told about this performance. In 2006, there was a production of the show at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. This production was done shortly after Hurricane Katrina. The setting was a country road and a tree in New Orleans. The cast was made up of four black male actors and they alluded to Godot being the federal emergency management agency. There was a 2009 revival of the play, which nominated for multiple Tony Awards.

=About the Playwright =  According to the Samuel Beckett biography on biography.com, Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland, on April 13, 1906. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. On December 22, 1989, Beckett died in Paris, France. Beckett experienced depression during his childhood, which ended up being an influence on his writing style. In 1928, Beckett met James Joyce and became a devoted student of his. Shortly after moving to Paris, he was stabbed by a pimp. While he was recovering in the hospital, he met his future wife, Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnuil, a piano student at the time. Beckett remained in Paris during World War II. He was a fighter in the resistance movement until he was caught and arrested in 1942. He and Suzanne went to an unoccupied area until the war was over. After the war, Beckett began the biggest portion of his writing career. //Waiting for Godot// was written during this time and it was what got Samuel Beckett's name recognized on a more international scale. The play had 400 performances and it received a lot of praise from critics. Beckett thought it would be best if he wrote from the perspective of his own personal thoughts and experiences. He is also known for writing about the essential elements of humans while mixing in his own brand of dark humor. Toward the latter part of the 1980s, Beckett's health was worsening and he moved to a nursing home. His wife passed away in July 1989. He died five months later, on December 22, due to respiratory problems.

=References=
 * 1) Biography.com Editors. "Samuel Beckett." //Biography.com//, A&E Networks Television, 1 June 2015, www.biography.com/people/samuel-beckett-9204239. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.
 * 2) Bulatović, M., //Ilest arrive// (Paris: Seuil, 1967). Quoted in Cohn, R., //From Desire to Godot// (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press, 1998), p. 171
 * 3) "'Four' Symbolism." //Samuel-Beckett.net//, www.samuel-beckett.net/Penelope/four-symbolism.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.
 * 4) Hall, Peter. "Production History." //Samuel-Beckett.net//, //The Guardian//, 2003, www.samuel-beckett.net/Penelope/production_history.html. Accessed 19 Apr. 2017.
 * 5) Hassell, G., //What's On' London//, 2nd - 9 July 1997.
 * 6) Isherwood, Charles, et al. "Theater Reviews," //The New York Times//, The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2014, theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9B02E3DF1E31F931A35752C1A961958260. Accessed 19 Apr. 2017.
 * 7) "Waiting for Godot Production History." //Theater 271//, St. Olaf's College, pages.stolaf.edu/th271-spring2014/production-history-waiting-for-godot/. Accessed 29 Mar. 2017.