Waiting For Godot, Theatre Royal Haymarket Review
Written by Philip for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
With nothing but desolation and a single withered tree, James MacDonald brings Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece Waiting For Godot to the West End stage. Since its premiere in 1955, it has become a classic with revival after revival, but this new production feels fresh.
Beckett’s tale tells of two down and outs Vladimir (Ben Whishaw) and Estragon (Lucian Msamati), waiting in an empty landscape under a single willow tree for the title character who we never get the pleasure to meet. Though down on their luck, our protagonists are dreamers and philosophers as they kill time thinking, pacing and bickering while they continue to wait. Ever connected, they stand stoically side by side, threatening to leave but never managing to walk away from their partner in life.
The stage is bare and cold in an almost apocalyptic state. Reminiscent of no man’s land in a war torn environment you cannot help but feel for the characters. Beckett of course wrote the play just after the Second World War which I’m sure plays into Rae Smith’s set design. It’s an eerie wasteland befitting of Beckett’s work. It almost transcends time itself. Didi (Whishaw) and Gogo (Msamati) seem to lose time from one day to the next, Gogo in particular never quite remembering what’s happened the previous day. Except of course that they have to wait for Godot. Though it seems a play full of sadness and longing there is a whole lot of laughter and love. From moments of slapstick and hilarious one liners, there is definitely a lightness to the darkness.
Msamati’s Estragon is a realist who bumbles through life concerning himself with the practical rather than the theoretical. Whishaw’s Vladimir by comparison is a free thinker and philosopher who asks age old questions and tries to look for the bigger picture all the while making sure to patiently wait without ever really knowing why. They are in complete juxtaposition but complement each other so well. Creating a beautiful equilibrium. The balance between complete despair and complete hilarity is an art. You cannot help but fall in love with them. Both incredible dramatic actors, Whishaw and Msamati never shy away from the sheer sadness of purgatory. There is a gentleness and warmth in Whishaw’s portrayal, with Msamatic being just as warm but a tad more brash. There is a brilliant familiarity between the actors which leads to special moments even in the silences and pauses.
Our protagonist’s waiting is only interrupted by the arrival of Pozzo, a pompous aristocrat and his man servant Lucky who is exhausted and quite abused on his first entrance. Though quite a different dynamic these two characters also rely heavily on each other. Jonathan Slinger’s Pozzo is full of anger and pomp always trying to one up those around him. Lucky is treated appallingly by his master. Tom Edden is a master at clowning with a harrowing undertone. You seem so sorry for him. Of course when the pair return in Act 2, the tables have somewhat turned with the dynamic switched and Pozzo needing Lucky just as much as Lucky needing Pozzo, highlighting that life changes and moves on. While Didi and Gogo sit, the world around them changes.
The four main actors are allowed a couple of sequences of humour in Act 2 with Whishaw and Msamati doing a spectacular job of the switching hats moment, causing a great roar from the audience before all four aforementioned performers do a slack stick-esque routine involving helping the others up while falling about the place themselves. It breaks up the doom and gloom and allows them all to pass the time.
All the moving parts between the actors, the direction, the set, the lighting all make this piece work as well as it does. But you think back to the text and to life itself. Waiting and waiting for Godot to appear to which he never does. Perhaps it’s time to give up and move on but you never do. You go back to what you know how to do and you wait some more. It’s just as relevant today as the day it was written. It is definitely worthwhile seeing this slick new production while it is in town. Why wait?
Waiting For Godot is playing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 14th December.
★ ★ ★ ★
