Waiting for Godot - McKellen and Stewart, Hensley and Crudup

Over the years, I have heard of the play "Waiting for Godot."  I have seen (perhaps in a class somewhere?) a brief scene, and I remember thinking "This is strange."  It's one of those plays I somehow knew I should know more about, but it's not as if it's an accessible Broadway musical comedy which is going to be part of a Civic Theater season.

Then, two actors I admire got together a production of it on Broadway.  And, we happened to be going to New York to visit Leah while it was playing, so we simply had to take the opportunity to see  it.

What an experience!

Let's get a few misconceptions out of the way:

• The cast has five actors.  Many people think of it being about two people, and certainly the characters played by Sir Patrick Stewart (Vladimir/DiDi) and Sir Ian McKellen (Estragon/GoGo) are the central parts.  But Pozzo (Shuler Hensley) and Lucky (Billy Crudup) are critical to whatever "meaning" this play ultimately has for you.  Even the Boy has a crucial part to play, small as it is.
• The play is accessible.  OK, so it's hard to describe what it's about, and there are nonsensical lines, but when acted and directed as this production was, the interactions make much more sense than they would if you just saw lines on a printed page.
• The play is funny!  Oh, it's deep, too, and dramatic, but there is plenty of opportunity for humor, and this cast did a wonderful job of giving the audience a wide range of emotional responses.

These actors played off of one another amazingly well.  The timing was exquisite.  I laughed.  I was moved.  I very quickly stopped thinking of the actors as the parts they played in other works, and started living with them as incarnations of Beckett's characters.  Certainly, there were times when an expression of Stewart's would remind me of Captain Picard, or a groan from McKellen would stir a memory of Gandalf.  But that just helped to emphasize how completely different their "Godot" characters were from those other roles.  Oh, and Billy Crudup was practically unrecognizable, so there was no chance I would think of Dr. Manhattan or his role in Big Fish (one of my favorite movies.)

Live theater is to be treasured, in part, because each performance is unique.  And because these shows do not go on forever.  Sometime in February or March, these fine actors will close down "Waiting for Godot" and "No Man's Land" (being performed in rep) and it may well never happen again.  I will treasure this memory, of seeing such fine acting, from such gifted performers, with my wife and daughters.

My only regret is that we did not plan to see both shows.  I would have loved to see this cast in another great play.

Bravo!

Vladimir	Patrick Stewart
Estragon	Ian McKellen
Lucky	Billy Crudup
Pozzo	Shuler Hensley

(I'll credit the actor who played the Boy) when I have access to the program from the performance.)

Creative Team

Written by	Samuel Beckett
Director	Sean Mathias
Set and Costume Designer	Stephen Brimson Lewis
Lighting Designer	Peter Kaczorowski
Sound Designer	Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen