{"id":4987,"date":"2013-02-09T15:46:51","date_gmt":"2013-02-09T23:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=4987"},"modified":"2013-02-11T11:42:03","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T19:42:03","slug":"waiting-for-godot-a-tragicomedy-in-two-acts-by-samuel-beckett-marin-theatre-company-mill-valley-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/waiting-for-godot-a-tragicomedy-in-two-acts-by-samuel-beckett-marin-theatre-company-mill-valley-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWaiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts\u201d By Samuel Beckett, Marin Theatre Company, Mill Valley CA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From left: Mark Anderson Phillips, Ben Johnson, Mark Bedard<\/p><\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo by Kevin Berne<\/em><\/address>\n
<\/em>\u00a0<\/address>\n

Send in the Clowns<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a college student in his native Ireland, poet, novelist and playwright <\/span>Samuel Beckett<\/strong> was inspired by <\/span>Charles Chaplin<\/strong> and <\/span>Buster Keaton<\/strong>. This is delightfully apparent in his seminal work \u201cWaiting for Godot\u201d being presented at Marin Theatre Company.\u00a0 What is less apparent is a storyline or plot. This, as it turns out, was the playwright\u2019s intent. \u201cGodot\u201d was so controversial during its first outing in Paris in 1953 that brawls erupted among theatergoers who had differing opinions on exactly what Beckett was trying to say. Originally written in French (Beckett\u2019s favored language), its title \u201cEn Attendant Godot\u201d translates literally to \u201cWhile Waiting for Godot\u201d, which is a much better description of what happens \u2013 or does not happen – onstage.<\/span><\/p>\n

The curtain rises on Vladimir (called Didi) and Estragon (called Gogo), two clownish everymen calling up the friendly ghosts of Laurel and Hardy in their appearance and demeanor. They could be brothers, lovers or friends; it makes no difference. Both guys wear shabby ill-fitting suits and bowler hats, the uniform of silent screen comics. They linger near a barren tree by the side of a deserted road, and it\u2019s obvious they\u2019ve been there quite awhile, maybe for days. Who is Godot, and why do Didi and Gogo wait for him? This almost seems to be beside the point, and there are no real specifics in the dialogue. This overall vagueness, so intelligently designed by the playwright, has allowed audiences worldwide the freedom to make of it what they will, in much the same way the early silent comedies transcended language and culture. You can discover profound existential meaning, or let this comedy-of-the-absurd wash over you for pure enjoyment. It meets you where you are, whoever you are.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Gogo and Didi pass the time, there\u2019s much blathering on about nothing, and everything. There are farts, smelly feet, pratfalls and funny poses. There are discussions of halitosis, heaven and hell, suicide and mandrakes, memory loss and bladder problems. There are philosophical questions, songs and jokes. <\/span>Mark Anderson Phillips<\/strong> infuses his Gogo with simple sweetness, the more earthbound of the pair. The assertive Didi is played with clumsy determination by <\/span>Mark Bedard<\/strong>. Both actors are at the top of their game, cavorting on the razor\u2019s edge between overt sentimentality and over-the-top silliness, where a tumble in either direction could spoil the effect. Like skilled trapeze artists, they keep their balance.<\/span><\/p>\n

The peace is shattered suddenly, with a shout, when fearsome megalomaniac Pozzo (<\/span>James Carpenter<\/strong>) bursts upon the scene. He is pulled along on a long, thick rope by a grim, wheezing, cadaverous-looking fellow called Lucky (<\/span>Ben Johnson<\/strong>). This bizarre and unexpected event certainly rocks Gogo and Didi\u2019s world, causing them much trepidation, then speculation. Carpenter lends Pozzo an air of controlled frenzy and a pathological need for attention. Johnson delivers an enormous performance as the mostly silent, dejected Lucky. His one turn to speak is like watching a great tree come to life. What at first seems to be a master-slave relationship between Pozzo and Lucky takes a strange and ironic turn between their first appearance and when they show up again near the end of the second act.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just when we are beginning to doubt the existence of someone named Godot, a young boy who works for him (<\/span>Lucas Meyers<\/strong>) arrives to deliver a message from his master to Gogo and Didi. It seems their wait will continue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of finding a need to fill every moment with some bit of business, director <\/span>Jasson Minadakis<\/strong> (in his seventh season as MTC Artistic Director) carefully preserves the stillness between the lines with graceful timing and crisp, choreographic blocking of the characters\u2019 movements. By focusing equally on the pair\u2019s buffoonery and seemingly hopeless plight, and treating both comic and tragic elements of the play with an even hand, he reinforces the playwright\u2019s intent in allowing the audience to identify with the characters as part of the universal human condition of interdependence. \u00a0While playing Estragon in the original 1955 London production, actor <\/span>Peter Woodthrope<\/strong> asked Beckett what the play was really about. Beckett replied \u201cIt’s all\u00a0symbiosis, Peter; it’s symbiosis,” The secret, revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beckett\u2019s play tells us we\u2019re all waiting, and chained to habits. It illustrates how we can be rooted to the spot by lack of imagination or fear of change, but we need each other, and there is hope if we face life together, whatever comes. This play carries deep pleasure straight to the heart, which explains why it has endured for almost 60 years, through all times and all cultures of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

When: now through February 17, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

8 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:30 p.m. Wednesdays <\/strong><\/p>\n

2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

2 p.m. Saturday, February 16<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets: $36 to $57<\/strong><\/p>\n

Location: Marin Theatre Company<\/strong><\/p>\n

397 Miller Avenue<\/strong>, Mill Valley CA<\/strong> 94941<\/strong>
\nPhone: 415-388-5208 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Website: <\/strong>www.marintheatre.org<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Suzanne and Greg Angeo Photo by Kevin Berne \u00a0 Send in the Clowns As a college student in his native Ireland, poet, novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-greg-suzanne-angeo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"