Waiting for Godot in the Abbey theatre
It’s probably one of the most well-known plays in the Irish canon but the least understood. Is there even anything to understand or is it just a last laugh on Beckett’s part? An existential drama seems about as far as one could get to describe Waiting For Godot in its broadest sense but that of course would leave out the innate humour that exists in its lines and, luckily, evident in the latest production directed by Garry Hynes and performed on The Abbey Stage until the 20th of May. Hynes is delightfully true to the text with Beckett’s stripped back prose of deceptively simple and exacting use of language still intact. Originally written in French (En Attendant Godot), this allowed Beckett to, in his own words, “write without style”. Nonetheless it remains an extremely stylish piece of theatre: excruciatingly sharp and bleak but incredibly effective with a set that demands attention yet managing to look always to the original, “a country road. A tree”: nothing more nothing less bar one smooth, white rock. This means that the attention is brought always to the four actors: Gogo (Aaron Monaghan), Didi (Marty Rea), Lucky (Garrett Lombard), Pozzo (Rory Nolan), and a mysterious young boy; as well as, inevitably, to the many possible interpretations that one may derive from this play. Although Beckett may not have intended the ‘hidden depths’ found by so many eager scholars, his play certainly invites these analyses—to leave every stone (or white rock) unturned, to never simply take them at face value, god no—sacrilege—this is high art, didn’t you know? You PHILISTINE you!!
What does seem certain, in a play full of uncertainties, is that Godot is an extraordinarily terrible time keeper (must be irish) and may never arrive. Therefore it becomes not about the identity of Godot, but the very act of waiting, always waiting. Existing in a state of limbo. The imperative is to leave identity politics out of it and to look instead at the context: why must people demand order and stability and why must we as an audience demand an understanding and a simplicity? Nods perhaps to a larger societal problem in which a petty feud of identities, ethnicities and religions is favoured over the larger question of humanity and morality.
Political parallels aside, this production remains a must see, particularly for any Beckett fans. With flawless performances, tight direction, risible physicality and a set that draws you in it's a production not to be missed.
