James MacDonald’s production beautifully brings out the balance of pathos and humour to great effect.
There is so much to be taken away from Samuel Beckett’s play that depending on your own outlook on life, it will affect the way in which you see this absurdist and thoughtful play.
Formed of a series of conversations between Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting under a tree for the mysterious Godot who keeps assuring them that he will appear but never does. This means that the pair are left to reflect on their thoughts on life and why they have been placed on earth. If this all sounds heavy going, it really isn’t thanks to James MacDonald’s production that gets the balance between humour and pathos just right to keep the audience thoroughly engaged.
Set on the beautifully bleak set designed by Rae Smith, along with Bruno Poet’s beautifully subtle lighting design (giving off images of World War II which of course had a strong impact on Beckett’s life and thematically you can see how it helped create this play), there are plenty of gorgeously focused moments throughout that lead to some beautifully images for the audience to thoroughly absorbed. While the lack of colour might give the impression of bleakness, it also ensures that the audience is utterly captivated by the characters and the cast’s performances.
The charming performances from the cast (particularly from the two central characters) really captures the sense of hope and humanity that lies at the centre of it all. Lucian Masmati as Estragon might have a slightly more pessimistic look at life but is completely grounded, which is nicely contrasted with Ben Whishaw’s Vladimir who comes across as a bit more of dreamer with a slightly nervous energy to him and uses conversation (no matter how random the conversation gets) to pass the time to beautiful effect. From both performances it is incredible to see how they make the conversation flow effortlessly to draw the audience in – no matter how heavy the subject matter gets. Together their chemistry highlights the wide variety of emotions that are required to do this complex and challenging play justice.
They are ably supported by Tom Edden’s focused and painful portrayal as Lucky, Pozzo’s badly mistreated slave, and Jonathan Slinger as the arrogant Pozzo – highlight the aggressiveness and violence that can be found in the world as they flit in and out of scenes. Slinger brilliantly increases the intensity of his attitude to Lucky that makes it difficult for the audience to look away, while Edden offers a really haunted performance that suggests that the character suffers from PTSD (understandably so).
Perhaps, the only thing to be noted is the pacing which can seem a little bit all over the place – particularly in the first act, where certain moments are lingered over too long that it can take the audience out of the story.
Overall, this is a delicate, engaging and fascinating production of Beckett’s play with plenty of layers to it that will leave you with plenty to mull over as you leave the theatre.
By Emma Clarendon
To book tickets visit: https://waitingforgodotplay.com/
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐