Waiting for Godot

Having lived in London for just over 2 months now I figured it was about time to go see a play. After all, I'm just a couple tube stops away from Picadilly Circus, the heart of the theatre scene where some of the most famous plays in the world are currently showing.

Waiting for Godot is one such play. To be perfectly honest I had never heard of it before, but the fact that it was starring such actors as Sir Ian McKellen (many know him as Gandalf from LOTR) and Roger Rees (Men in Tights, Titanic, and The Prestige) suggested it had to be something special.

And indeed it was. Godot is not an easy play to fathom. For one thing, it is described as a "tragicomedy" where "nothing ever happens." I wasn't sure how this would play out; under normal circumstances this could be extremely frustrating and tedious. I had even read some of the script before going to the play and was a little apprehensive as to how it could hold together for two hours. Yet when Sir Ian McKellen stumbled on stage, playing the wary, forgetful old hobo Estragon, it was clear the performance was going to be nothing less than stellar.

The play was basically about these two old friends, Estragon and Vladimir, who spend their days idly conversing and finding ways to pass the time. Only it's kind of like "Groundhog Day" -- every day is exactly the same. Apparently the play was written in the style of "Theatre of the Absurd," a kind of surreal story that is meant to disorient the audience and show complete meaninglessness.

To add a twist to the strange monotony, Vladimir (Roger Rees) claims that he's waiting for Godot, an undefined character who is supposedly coming to meet him under a tree. Every evening Vladimir comes and waits, Estragon joins him and the two bicker and amuse themselves. And every evening a boy comes to tell them Godot will not be there, but he'll come tomorrow.

Eventually two other characters come into the story named Pozzo (Matthew Kelly) and his old slave, Lucky (Ronald Pickup) who he keeps tied to a rope. I found this part slightly disturbing, which I think was the point. However, it was woven with some very humorous exchanges of dialogue and the actors were absolutely phenomenal.

It was one of those plays where you get what you want to get out of it. Some of my friends who I talked to thought that Godot was actually God, but I had actually read that was not the original intent of the metaphor. After seeing it for myself, I had more of the impression that Godot is exactly what it seems: the characters giving purpose to an otherwise meaningless existence. By insisting that he's waiting for Godot (whatever that might be), Vladimir is giving his life some sort of meaning, whether or not he's actually imagining everything that is happening. Well, that was just my interpretation of it. It was incredibly thought-provoking, but you really have to see it for yourself to understand.

After the play, my friend and I went around to the back theatre doors to meet the actors afterwards. There were about 20 other people waiting, and after a half hour or so the actor came out in their street clothes, armed with Sharpies to give autograps. It was mass chaos, but I managed to jump in and meet Roger Rees, Matthew Kelly, and very briefly, Ian McKellen.

Ian McKellen leaving before I could get his picture. :(

Roger Rees was much more engaging and actually stayed for a photo. He was very friendly, but it was quite an honor to meet all of the actors who did such a phenomenal job on the play.

I got most of their signatures on my ticket, which made a fun souvenir from an incredible night at the Royal Haymarket Theatre.