Irish playwright Samuel Beckett wrote “Waiting for Godot” in the winter of 1948, in French, having lived in Paris for 20 years and witnessing the devastating effects of World War II as a member of the French Resistance against German occupation. With only a tree and a rock on stage, the play’s bleak set evokes a post-war landscape that fits the narrative’s darkly comic tone.
Director Judy Hegarty Lovett’s staging of “Waiting for Godot” at the Geffen Playhouse — co-produced with Gare St Lazare Ireland, specializing in Beckett productions — nails the comic aspects, featuring talented comedic actors Aasif Mandvi and Rainn Wilson in the lead roles.
It also offers a gorgeously stark set (a sparkly tree, a realistic rock) designed by Kaye Voyce, beautifully lit by Simon Bennison — lighting also rendering evocative silhouettes of the men — plus subtle, moody music composed by Mel Mercier.
And Mandvi as Estragon (or “Gogo”) and Wilson as Vladimir (or “Didi”) embody their roles engagingly, underscoring how their characters are stuck together in a timelessness bubble almost like a married couple, waiting and waiting for a mysterious Godot. Mandvi brings a sympathetic softness and vulnerability to Gogo while Wilson tempers Didi’s relative arrogance with believable kindness.
Didi and Gogo pass their time in the bare landscape by forcing clichéd and often humorous conversation with each other, playing little games (a scene where they swap three hats is priceless!) and eating the occasional root vegetable.
Their seemingly endless waiting – sometimes in silence, sometimes noting how the audience is like a bog, or full of corpses, or composed of skeletons – is alleviated by the dramatic appearance of Pozzo (Conor Lovett) and his slave-like servant Lucky (Adam Stein), whom Pozzo leads by a rope around the neck.
Didi and Gogo observe how Pozzo demeans Lucky by barking one-word orders at him and calling him “pig” or “hog” – which Didi later starts calling Gogo – but are unable to intervene to change the dynamic. Instead, Pozzo’s pontificating and his debasement of Lucky become a source of entertainment to pass the time as the men wait.
Seeing such humiliation of a human being on stage is certainly disconcerting. And one can also empathize with the frustration Didi and Gogo feel at waiting so long for Godot, caught in an endlessly repeating Groundhog Day, with a boy (Lincoln Bonilla, alternating with Jack McSherry) periodically showing up to announce that Godot won’t be coming that day after all, but surely the next.
But what’s missing from this staging of “Waiting for Godot” is the darkness that gives its absurdist plot meaningful depth. While there is frustration, there is no anger. While there is solemnity, there is no sadness. While there is the questioning of existence, there is no fear. Without those darker emotions, the play is like an echo of the existential pain Beckett may have etched into these words, along with comic alleviation, during a more desolate and hopeless time.
Perhaps we are too used to passing the time today scrolling or streaming on our devices, so we know waiting is only temporary and there is no need to feel angry, scared or sad for very long. But is that true? One might think that now of all times, November 2024, those feelings might need to be evoked on stage so we might share them cathartically, or at least know how to express such feelings in our own absurd situations.
Instead, “Waiting for Godot” here is perhaps too aestheticized — visually stunning and charmingly enacted for sure, but like a two-dimensional painting rather than a raw, three-dimensional portrayal of human beings trapped in a type of hell. Clowning is fun, but we might enjoy the antics of clowns more when we sense our own sadness and fear behind their painted smiles.
“Waiting for Godot” continues at Geffen Playhouse’s Gil Cates Theater, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, through Dec. 15, with shows Wednesdays through Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (310) 208-2028 or visiting GeffenPlayhouse.org. Run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including intermission.
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