drama Sean Barrett • David Burke Terence Rigby • Nigel Anthony Zachary Fox Directed by John Tydeman Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot NA240212D UNABRIDGED 1 Act 1 Part 1 9:10 2 Act 1 Part 2 5:34 3 Act 1 Part 3 2:36 4 Act 1 Part 4 6:10 5 Act 1 Part 5 9:07 6 Act 1 Part 6 10:18 7 Act 1 Part 7 9:00 8 Act 1 Part 8 10:07 9 Act 1 Part 9 7:46 10 Act 2 Part 1 9:06 11 Act 2 Part 2 5:15 12 Act 2 Part 3 4:49 13 Act 2 Part 4 5:18 14 Act 2 Part 5 2:27 15 Act 2 Part 6 3:01 16 Act 2 Part 7 4:52 17 Act 2 Part 8 7:24 18 Act 2 Part 9 5:43 19 Act 2 Part 10 5:00 Total time: 2:02:43 2 CAST Vladimir Sean Barrett Estragon David Burke Lucky/Narrator Nigel Anthony Pozzo Terence Rigby Boy Zachary Fox Directed by John Tydeman Recorded and edited by Norman Goodman Stage Management by Peter Novis Recorded at RNIB Talking Book Studios © Samuel Beckett 3 Waiting for Godot: the background By John Calder There is now no doubt that not only followed them. There has been a theatre is Waiting for Godot the outstanding of great talent that has sought mainly to play of the twentieth century, but it is entertain during a difficult century and also Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece. another that tried to expose what is Although it achieved performance before wrong with the world in order to make any other of the thirty-four dramatic us want to change and improve it. But no works in the Beckett canon, all of them drama has been more basic than that of brilliant and innovatingly different from Samuel Beckett, which always returns to any other plays of their time, and all of the great questions of human existence, them having an impact that makes asking why we are here and what our audiences reconsider the world they ultimate destiny is, both as individuals inhabit and their attitude to it, it is still and as a species co-existing with other Waiting for Godot that holds the crown and inter-related species. Waiting for and best rewards continuous visits. Godot is a play of great simplicity, but it Twentieth century drama has, like all has the power to affect audiences much the arts, been incredibly rich, and one as great religious messages and great can not lightly put Beckett above the historical sagas have done in the past. It great expressionist theatre, from Shaw to is not surprising that the comparison that Brecht, that aimed to educate as well as is most often made is with Shakespeare. entertain; or the naturalist plays of It is the rather deceptive simplicity of Chekhov and his followers with their Waiting for Godot with its easy-to- poignancy for a world that can never live recognise picture of ourselves going up to its promise; or the strength of the through life that caused the British critics attacks on a hypocritical society of Ibsen to overwhelmingly dismiss it at its British and his likes, and the great number of première in 1955 at London’s Arts later playwrights of different schools who Theatre Club in Peter Hall’s production. 4 Only Harold Hobson, the eccentric but those who underwent crucifixion or open-minded theatre critic of the Sunday other martydoms, because he had an Times, usually right when every other instinctive and empathetic awareness of, critic was wrong, saved the play from an and feeling for, suffering. The pain in the early demise at the Arts. He went back to world, not possible to avoid, if you are a review it again and frequently, so that his caring and sensitive person who knows colleagues ultimately did the same and what is going on in the less privileged changed their minds. It must be said that parts of our planet, was never far from Hobson was also the only British critic his mind. But the pain is also there even who kept in close touch with the Parisian where there is privilege, because of theatre of the day, and would have accident, illness or malice. Beckett’s known of its great French success in awareness of the most iconic image of 1953 when it ran for many months. But Christianity, the crucifixion, was certainly there are other reasons why the play strengthened by knowing that his should have had a special appeal for birthday, on a Good Friday the thirteenth Harold Hobson, of April in 1906, was also the day of His Christian Science mother had Christ’s crucifixion. That birthday date nursed him from polio as a child, and he crops up fluently in all his fiction, and his had little difficulty in recognising the father’s reaction to his birth is graphically many religious references and described in his novella Company. associations in Waiting for Godot. It is no As an adult Samuel Beckett lived accident that audiences brought up as without a religious faith, but he Christians, whether believers or not, if certainly missed emotionally what his they have open minds, are especially logical mind could not believe, and it is attracted to the play. Beckett was interesting to note that one cannot find brought up in a religious protestant throughout his entire canon of work a household and sent to a school of the single character who is not a believer, same faith. At university in Dublin be although he may be a reluctant one, began to question the beliefs he had and. in some cases, the belief may take been taught, but without losing his the form of hatred or blame for the awareness of the terrible suffering of all mess God has made of the world. When 5 God is portrayed by Beckett, which he subjects at Trinity and he read both the often is, either speaking with a forked religious and the secular philosophers tongue or, as he is usually seen by those there and thoughout his life. Much with an unquestioning faith, he (God) theology, especially from the medieval sometimes is depicted as questioning his period of scholasticism, is clearly own conduct and regretting his nonsense, and when Beckett attacks it in mistakes. Beckett can therefore be his work he uses a devastating wit, and viewed, as a secular theologian, he amusingly parodies those who accept constantly questioning the conventional and never question even the most tenets of Christianity. outrageous dogmas in both his novels While studying Italian literature at and plays. This accounts for much of the Trinity, Beckett developed a special fascination that clerics, many of whom interest in Dante, who became an have their own personal difficulties with influence on all his work. Dante is the what they have to preach, develop with first major writer to give us a detailed and Beckett’s work. They recognise the frightening picture of life after death, references, discover their own doubts and most vividly to portray Hell in echoed, and find themselves asking new Inferno. Milton was later to do the same questions, and he too was a frequent influence to The purpose of religion is to explain whom Beckett sometimes refers. When our existence, and beyond that to offer one looks at Beckett’s later work which some comfort in a world that is always carries us forty years beyond the writing frightening. It is there to reassure. of Waiting for Godot, one suddenly Beckett, on the other hand, does not realises that a preoccupation with Hell reassure. He makes us face the world as was with him all his life and that much of we see it in reality and his characters are his writing was an attempt to define or simply looking at that world and relating describe a Hell of the mind in modern it to what they are told by others that it terms in which dream, coma and is. In bringing together what we see, continuing post-life consciousness all what we are, what we are told we should play a part. think, and contrasting it to what we do Philosophy was another of Beckett’s think, often without wanting to, Beckett 6 opens up a whole new world of reality, second our obsessions are explored, the Once we realise we are not looking at human follies that inspire laughter but an idealised or flattering view of are often the Beckettian risus purus, the ourselves, as we would be portrayed by laugh at unhappiness. Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward or any of the Both writers made use of the other playwrights who glamourise us, soliloquy in which a character talks even when they expose us as hypocrites directly to the audience, letting it into his or villains of some sort, we should have mind and his thoughts. Sooner or later no difficulty with a Beckett play. many members of the audience will Shakespeare was able to bring about the remember those thoughts and relate same moments of audience recognition them to their own. The very act of of the true person within the facade we speaking directly to an audience breaks all present to the world, and that is the down the artificial barrier between stage principal reason that Beckett is so often and auditorium, gets rid of the invisible compared to Shakespeare. fourth wall, and thus creates a direct Beckett’s characters represent all of rapport between minds, heightening humanity and so do Shakespeare’s, but attention and enforcing concentration.