2008 Woodie Awards
'Godot' waiting for audience
A play that is definitely worth seeing twice
Louie Arujo
Issue date: 4/2/03 Section: Campus Life
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David Wheeler of the Yuba College Drama Department has once again produced and directed a masterpiece of excellence that audiences will remember for years to come.
"Waiting for Godot" was written by Irish born novelist Samuel Beckett and is his best known work. First performed in Paris on Jan. 5, 1953, the play poses questions of time and eternity and examines the existential problems of life.
"Waiting for Godot" has been performed in small and large theaters throughout the world in over a dozen languages and sold over a million copies in the original French version. One English translation starred Steve Martin and Robin Williams.
Act I opens on a country road near a tree. Two elderly half-bums half-clowns amuse themselves with hilarious nonsensical conversation that moves in and out at a fast pace from hope to despair. They announce a dozen times to the audience that they are waiting for Godot.
Initially without identity the tramps appear on the cast list as Vladimir and Estragon but address one another as Gogo and Didi. They await someone named Godot, who, they believe, will reward their patience. Pozzo and Lucky enter as master and slave and leave; a small boy, Godot's messenger arrives to tell them that Godot is not coming. The play ends with Vladimir and Estragon still waiting.
The play is rich ground for symbolism. Possibly Godot is God, rebirth, redemption hope and despair, since Gogo and Didi have memories of a Christian Bible.
But during the time of Godot's first production when Beckett was pressed for interpretation he denied symbolic explanation.
Gogo and Gigi want to kill themselves, but their will to live is stronger than their will to kill themselves, and they rationalize that they are blessed because at least they know what they are doing. They are "Waiting for Godot."
The opening scene is about nothing and everything. Vladimir, played by Joseph Sabatello, and Estagon, played by Marco Antonio Ruiz, appear on stage dressed as bums waiting for something to happen. They announce to the audience that they are waiting for Godot. Sabatello and Ruiz give a gut-wrenching performance about the hopelessness of questioning the infinite.
"Waiting for Godot" was written by Irish born novelist Samuel Beckett and is his best known work. First performed in Paris on Jan. 5, 1953, the play poses questions of time and eternity and examines the existential problems of life.
"Waiting for Godot" has been performed in small and large theaters throughout the world in over a dozen languages and sold over a million copies in the original French version. One English translation starred Steve Martin and Robin Williams.
Act I opens on a country road near a tree. Two elderly half-bums half-clowns amuse themselves with hilarious nonsensical conversation that moves in and out at a fast pace from hope to despair. They announce a dozen times to the audience that they are waiting for Godot.
Initially without identity the tramps appear on the cast list as Vladimir and Estragon but address one another as Gogo and Didi. They await someone named Godot, who, they believe, will reward their patience. Pozzo and Lucky enter as master and slave and leave; a small boy, Godot's messenger arrives to tell them that Godot is not coming. The play ends with Vladimir and Estragon still waiting.
The play is rich ground for symbolism. Possibly Godot is God, rebirth, redemption hope and despair, since Gogo and Didi have memories of a Christian Bible.
But during the time of Godot's first production when Beckett was pressed for interpretation he denied symbolic explanation.
Gogo and Gigi want to kill themselves, but their will to live is stronger than their will to kill themselves, and they rationalize that they are blessed because at least they know what they are doing. They are "Waiting for Godot."
The opening scene is about nothing and everything. Vladimir, played by Joseph Sabatello, and Estagon, played by Marco Antonio Ruiz, appear on stage dressed as bums waiting for something to happen. They announce to the audience that they are waiting for Godot. Sabatello and Ruiz give a gut-wrenching performance about the hopelessness of questioning the infinite.