By Lachlan Williams:

Waiting For Godot is the play that was famously described as nothing happening, twice. As such it is possibly better suited to this age than the one it was written in. It’s not that things don’t happen any more – to the contrary. More things are happening in more places to more people than ever before. But ours is an age in which “nothing happening” has become the domain of art and artists, and what began with Beckett, we all know, eventually ends up at Larry David.

Which is why it is refreshing to see a production of Waiting For Godot that avoids the lofty existential wistfulness that plagues so many revivals of this work. From the moment we enter the theatre, we are presented not with two confused seers letting their lines of dialogue fall against one another in a pregnant clash of meaninglessness, but two actual tramps who are lively, rude and hilarious.

From the get-go it’s clear that this is going to be a bantering Godot, and if you haven’t brought your bant, that’s just too bad for you. Connolly and Faulkner’s lines richochet off each other, and Connolly is especially strong as a younger, sprightlier Estragon. The two give the perfect (and perfectly Beckettian) impression of a music-hall comedy duo whose act has taken on a life of its own and enslaved them.

For that’s what Luke Rogers’ Godot is – it’s the vaudeville of sage madmen, and it doesn’t let up in its merriment or its madness. When Pozzo and Lucky arrive, Pozzo is a cartoon capitalist from the 19th Century on PCP, and his energy feeds into that of Didi and Gogo. They alternate between madcap exchange and sudden, forgetful silence. The repeated refrain – “Let’s go / We can’t / Why not / We’re waiting for Godot” – becomes an infernal punchline to their tragic predicament, like the thing you only remember you want once you’ve left the room that contains it.

Gemma Lark-Johnson’s set design is simple and spare, and the upward kink on the back end of the “road” the tramps stand on are the only gesture towards flamboyance. The tree, often interpreted by designers as a looming, desolate presence, is oddly at peace with the rest of the set, though it has been chipped almost all the way through the trunk at one point. Martin Kinnane’s lighting design adds depth, definition and atmosphere to the piece without being self-conscious or intrusive.

Rogers and his team, approach the profundity of Godot through the profanity and vulgarity of the knockabout, white-face-red-nose relationship of its protagonists. Unlike a 50s audience, no-one was expecting Godot to show up, and the decision to make him a punchline rather than some kind of disembodied presence who is supposed imbue the piece with meaning from without is sound and well-executed.

While it might not be the most thought-provoking Beckett you’ll ever see, it’s bound to be among the most entertaining.

Performance Details:

Waiting For Godot, Samuel Beckett

New Theatre

Cast: Patrick Connolly, Alan Faulkner, Peter McAllum, Steve McGrath, Ruben Neeson and Jed Rosenberg

Directed by Luke Rogers

Season to May 29.

Arts/Theatre Correspondent Lachlan Williams is a Sydney-based writer, comedian and musician and has worked with Australian independent live theatre.

Tags: Lachlan Williams, luke rogers, new theatre, samuel beckett, waiting for godot