WAITING FOR GODOT.
London
WAITING FOR GODOT
by Samuel Beckett
The Godot Company at The White Bear Theatre
To 21 December 2003
Tue-Sat 7.30pm Sun 4pm
Review: Hugh Allison 20 December
A play to be seen - but not in this production.I'm afraid this performance of Waiting For Godot did not do anything for me. I like the play, and have seen it performed by three other companies during my time; this was the worst version yet.
Before it started, John Calder, personal friend and publisher to Beckett, came out to introduce the show to the audience. The fact that he needed to advertise the fact that the audience was allowed to laugh at the "humour" in the show, gave a warning the performance itself was not going to be particularly comic. And it wasn't.
Calder also stated the production would show the compassion of the characters. You could have fooled me. The way that Pozzo (Anthony Jackson) and Lucky (Sergio Amigo) treated each other bordered on the cruel.
Of course theatre is supposed to evoke emotions in its audiences, and it does not need to be immediately enjoyable to be good. But the acting here wasn't of sufficient quality. If I hadn't been there to review, I would have walked out during the interval.
The smelling of Estragon's (Jim McManus) shoes, by Vladimir (Tim Hardy), seemed to be done without reason. The look of disgust at the smell was considerably over acted, and there were times when the actors would visibly look at the audience to gauge their reaction to their performances.
The set, on the other hand, though basic,worked well. The tree which dominates the deliberately spare setting gave a sense of the humane whilst also looking menacingly like a crucifix. The rising of the moon towards the end of each act (a disc on a stick) was exceptionally effective in its ismplicity.
I would recommend anyone with an interest in theatre to see Waiting For Godot, a masterpiece of dramatic writing, and in many ways revolutionary. However, I would not recommend that they see this particular interpretation.
Estragon; Jim McManus
Vladimir: Tim Hardy
Lucky: Sergio Amigo
Pozzo: Anthony Jackson
A Boy: Adam Rust
Please note that "every actor has learnt two roles", so if you go to see The Godot Company perform Waiting For Godot at another location on their tour, they may be doing something else. For example, the cast of the previous week was:
Estragon: Anthony Jackson
Vladimir: Peter Marinker
Lucky: Oengus MacNamara
Pozzo: Peter Pacey
A Boy: Corbin Thomas Smith.
Directors: Members of the Co-operative
Designer: Ralph Petty
Lighting: Madge Duncan-Sutherland
Assistant Designer: Nicholas Petty
2004-01-01 23:21:05