Response To Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot

Initial reactions and responses to the play

Before actually choosing the play I did some research on different types of theatre. Theatre of the Absurd got my interest because of the way it presents ideas to the audience. It gives the chance for the audience to interpret the play, instead of making the meaning of it very obvious. In the end of the day, I chose the play by Samuel Beckett “Waiting for Godot” which is a popular and nice piece of Absurd Theatre. Even though the audience have the freedom to interpret the play the way they want, I am still able to focus on some particular elements of the performance in order to highlight an aspect of the play. This gives me the opportunity to push the performance to a specific direction as a director.

The very first premiere in Paris on January 5, 1953 was very unsuccessful. After Lucky’s monologue the curtains went down and the play was put on hold. People just did not like the play and refused to see it continue. A similar conflict appeared during the London premiere after two years. On of the members of the audience shouted in the middle of the play “This is why we lost our colonies”. During the same performance when Estragon asked Vladimir if they had rope to hang themselves, somebody yelled “Please give him one”. There were moments when the play was not appreciated because people were not patient enough or just the meaning for them was offending or meaningless. This is just some historical context to show that even though the play is now believed to be one of the best Absurd plays, before it was very derogated just like the plays of Virginia

It seems like number two is symbolic and wears some meaning. There are two friends, so as Pozzo and Lucky. There is also the boy and his brother (even though it is not made clear if Vladimir actually saw his brother). In the end of the day there are two acts. I tried to understand the reason for this repetitiveness of number two and I think the playwright refers to some type of probabilities and luck. When Lucky kicked Estragon’s legg - he stopped crying but Estragon started. This action was explained by Pozzo saying that there are too many people in the world and when one stops crying - the other one will start. Additionally Vladimir highlights a part where he talks about thieves: “Vladimir: Our Savior. Two thieves. One is supposed to have been saved and the other… (Vladimir searches for the contrary of saved) ... damned.” (1.64) There is this feeling that if there is no justice from one side, than there will be justice from the other side. This can be connected to the idea of war and how one side is arguing or fighting with the other side, exactly like Vladimir and Estragon. However all of this is just a tiny observation which I will most probably not concentrate in the performance because there are more informational and meaningful parts which can be shown through symbolism and