Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot is perhaps the most eloquent evocation of latter day malaise ever written. But it is extremely hard to pull off, because of its relentless sameness and repetition. This is purposeful, of course, because Beckett is expressing the banality of our own lives; therefore Godot is a commentary on how we fill the hours before we die. Not very pleasant sounding, is it?
What a joy, then, to find a production of the play that meets the challenge head-on, and emerges with an energized, entertaining, and – might I say, even suspenseful – take on the age-old problem of what to do with ourselves.
A Noise Within’s production, recently reprised for two all-too-short weeks, amply demonstrates how a performance can deepen and enrich itself over time. The same cast that premiered in 2007 is still intact: Joel Swetowinhabits the hapless tramp, Estragon, with a kind of seedy elegance that might describe an aristocratic drunk fallen down on his luck. Robertson Dean as a gaunt Vladimir, endows the character with his own brand of individuality.
While most reviewers might dwell on these two central characters, the most striking growth in characterization has occurred in the personas of the travelers, Pozzo (Mitchell Edmonds) and Lucky (Mark Bramhall). The pair enters the static scene in both acts one and two, but unlike the two tramps, these men radically change. Edmonds exhibits a new note of vulnerability in what is normally a blustering egotist. This depiction allows us to see beyond his braggadocio and demonstrates uncertainty lying beneath the surface. Lucky, the slave of the world, must stay dumb until, in a moment of blinding clarity almost like a bi-polar episode, he disgorges a quasi-learned diatribe. Bramhall’s rendition of this difficult speech has mellowed and taken on deeper meaning over three years until it shines with new intelligibility.
It is in the depiction of the travelers that Beckett telegraphs the slippage in time between the lives of Vladimir and Estragon (or Didi and GoGo, as they are called) for whom one day is much the same, as the world in the form of Pozzo and Lucky whizzes by, bringing meaning to “the end of a long day.”
This marvelous piece compels us to understand how a prolonged acquaintance with the characters creates, like an indigo dye, a performance more indelible than the indigo plant. Director Andrew Traister has progressively guided his cast toward the depths they have achieved with the help of scenic designer Michael C. Smith and Lighting Designer James P. Taylor who have contributed a luminescent evening sky to the normally austere surroundings. This production also features costuming by Amanda Lee and hair and wigs by Byron Batista.
Waiting for Godot completes its short run on January 24th at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm at A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale 91204. Tickets from $40.00 to $44.00. For complete schedule of ANW’s Spring Season featuring Much Ado about Nothing, Awake and Sing! and Playboy of the Western World phone the box office at (818) 240-0910 or online at www.anoisewithin.org.