During the 1953 world premiere of Samuel Beckett’s farcical masterpiece, at the Théâtre de Babylon in Paris, the curtain came down about 40 minutes into the first act when audience members booed and whistled derisively. While critics were receptive to the play, it sold few tickets in advance for its American debut tour in Washington and Philadelphia three years later, leading to Miami’s Coconut Grove Playhouse starring Burt Lehrer and Tom Ewell. Had to go for a two week run. Promoted as “a sense of laughter from two continents”, it was met with surprise by holidaymakers who described it as a play where nothing happens. The response was so anticipated that cabbies waited outside the theater for the early exits. Not surprisingly, the New York engagement was called off.
“Nothing happens, that’s the point. It will be interesting to see how they respond when we put it in front of an audience for the first time. It’s fun to make the audience uncomfortable because it forces them to lean in and pay attention.” does,” says Asif Mandvi, who plays Vladimir opposite Rainn Wilson in the new Geffen Playhouse production, which runs from November 6 to December 16. It is directed by Judy Hegarty. Levitt co-stars with her husband Connor Levitt as well as Adam Stein.
By a leafless tree on a country road, wanderers Estragon and Vladimir await a mysterious figure named Godot. In time, they meet Pozo (Connor Levitt), who bullies his servant Lucky (Stan). Later, a boy (Lincoln Bonilla/Jack McSherry), who works as a goat for Godot, informs them that his boss will not be coming and will be waiting for him tomorrow. The second act proceeds in a similar fashion, inspiring Irish critic Vivian Mercier’s notion that it is a play in which “nothing happens, twice”.
For decades, the play has been a draw for actors, attracting such notables as Robin Williams and Steve Martin, who were directed by Mike Nichols in a 1980s Lincoln Center production. In 2007, Broadway veteran Wendell Pierce performed in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. There was also a 2013 Broadway production with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Next year, another new production will star Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter.
A play’s lack of traditional dramatic elements such as plot, pacing and character arcs leaves blank spaces for actors and directors, resulting in a theatrical Rorschach test. It can be interpreted as a political drama about the oppression of the ruling class or a philosophical drama about the place of mankind in the universe. It may be a study in friendship, futility, and the despair of existence, or it may be none of these things, a puzzle to which Beckett answers, “Why do people have to make a thing so complicated that I Can’t make it.”
“Is it God? Could it be. Is it about capitalism? Could it be. Is it about the powerful versus the powerless? Could it be. It’s all,” offers Mandvi who ” Known for his work as “Senior Muslim Correspondent”. An Obie Award winner for his one-man show, he has worked with acclaimed director Trevor Nunn and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. “It’s not about analyzing it. Beckett doesn’t give you any of the traditional things that actors need, like who, where, why or what. You make it up and it’s free.
Wilson was an indelible presence and three-time Emmy nominee as Snide Regional Manager Dwight Schrute on the hit show. Before that, he studied theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and worked extensively off-Broadway, including his debut in a Shakespeare in the Park production.
“I would compare it to that it has a universal, timeless quality,” Wilson says. “You can see a thousand different Hamlets, and you’re going to see a thousand different interpretations.” You can see a thousand different Godots, and it’s going to be different. I have a line in Act Two where I say, ‘In an instant, all will be gone and we’ll be alone in nothingness once more.’ It can be a bone-chilling line that really touches someone’s heart, or you can spin on it and it will be thrilling and laugh-out-loud because it’s crazy over the top.
Judy Hegarty Leavitt has directed 19 Beckett productions for Gare St. Lazare Ireland, the Irish theater company founded by Leavitt and her husband, a leading producer of Beckett’s plays and non-dramatic prose texts. are In 2006, he directed all seven of Beckett’s radio plays, and in 2021, he directed a six-hour film adaptation of Beckett’s novel.
“I’ve taken a lot of guidance from her, let her be,” says Mandvi. “She understands pacing and humor and how language works. It also allowed Ren and I to explore the play through our own lens as two people coming at it with our own interpretations.
Wilson is in awe of his director’s mastery of Beckett and considers him a deep store of knowledge. He calls it the biggest acting test he has ever gone through. “She’s been very open for us to play, to explore, to explore. But it’s very important to her that the words are spoken clearly, that they’re spoken with a rhythm and pace and in a way that’s respectful. But the challenges are enormous, both physically and emotionally. are, and sometimes it’s crazy non-sequitur stuff, and you’re like, ‘What are they talking about?’ ”
Wilson first encountered the play as a student at the University of Washington where he performed a scene with a classmate named Holliday Reinhorn who later became his wife. “It will always hold a special place in my heart,” he says, recalling his first impressions. “I was 20 years old, and I wasn’t able to see the dark side of the play, the shadows.”
One of Beckett’s strengths for Mandvi is his ability to alternate between heartbreak and humor with ease. “What do we do to pass the time? We go around and make up stories and abuse each other and hurt each other, we kiss each other and love each other and in this play Vladimir And that’s what Estragon is doing. It’s a real honest-to-goodness experience, and in the end, it starts where it ends.”
Credit : www.hollywoodreporter.com
