Theatre Review
Tower Theatre Company Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
Director - Robert Pennant Jones
Bridewell Theatre
25 – 29 March, 2008
A review by Allan Taylor for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s seminal work and encapsulates his notion of creating a false expectation from the audience. The play revolves around two characters, Gogo and Didi, who are both waiting for Godot to meet them at a previously arranged spot. The play gives way to a dialogue between the two that reveals more about themselves than the arrival of Godot ever could. At the interval someone came to me and said, “It’s weird, isn’t it? And I said, “What? The bar?” He said, “No, the play. I mean, what are they waiting for?” I replied, “Nothing. They’re waiting for nothing. The whole point is nothing happens.” He then looked at me as if I was a crazed idiot and walked away. This kind of response is typical of people who are not familiar with the work of Samuel Beckett. If you’re expecting an all out, action-packed whodunit and then when Godot arrives everyone will be gunned down by the secret police, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Beckett is the grandfather of contemporary theatre, pushing the audience to contemplate their own expectancies rather than the happenings of the play, and to question the existential nature of life. Director Robert Pennant Jones’ enthusiasm for Beckett is what gives this interpretation a canon. I was more engaged by the production knowing that he felt so passionately about the piece. The set obviously comes from a very distinct place in his mind and so accurately translates the original intentions of the play. It was a nice touch from Paul Rutledge and Paul Norton (Gogo and Didi respectively) to play the main characters with an Irish accent, as Beckett would have intended invoking some kind of lazy reverie to the piece. Pennant Jones also made a worthy appearance this night as Pozzo, and managed to nail the poignancy of one of the most important lines in the play for me, “One day; isn’t that enough for you?” pointing to Didi’s impatience in wanting to know the exact whens and wheres of everything happening in this life. It’s a very accurate presentation of the play, and Pennant Jones was obviously keen to stay very close to the given circumstances in the text. Thought provoking and relevant, Waiting for Godot contains some really great moments that force us to ask ourselves what we are waiting for in our own lives, and whether the arrival of this event in our lives will ever occur. It’s a play that cannot be ignored as it has given birth to so much more, such as ‘in-yer-face’ theatre. It is a must for anyone who appreciates, studies or makes theatre.
Waiting for Godot is playing till the 29th of March Evening performances at 7.45pm, Tickets £11/ £9 020 7353 1700 www.towertheatre.org.uk
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