Samuel Beckett is noted for thought provoking and enigmatic theatre, and Waiting for Godot has been mesmerising and perplexing audiences in its English language version for almost 70 years.
It is an interesting choice by Jonathan Johnston for his directorial debut at Chester Little Theatre, and he has put together a top flight cast for this production, who it would be difficult to better in a professional company.
Beckett famously refused to give any notes or guidance to creatives as to the back-story or motivation for any of the characters, insisting that everything he knew about them was written on the page, almost as though they were people he had stumbled across by the roadside and whose words and actions he had transcribed.
Many directors try to weight the play in one direction or another, to try to find a meaning, but some of the best productions are those which take the author at his word and trust the text to speak for itself. Johnston has wisely taken this latter course, and it is clear that his focus has been on thoughtful, measured delivery and carefully choreographed stage movement from his actors. He has succeeded in pacing the work in a way that gives the most critical pauses and silences time to do their work without overtaxing the patience of the audience. This can sometimes feel like a long play, but here it makes good headway throughout, despite being a story that intentionally goes absolutely nowhere.
The play opens with Estragon and his worrisome boot, and we are greeted by Rob Turner, who is a familiar face on this stage, most recently having played Scullery in Road. Turner brings a weary melancholy to the role, and is a joy to watch. He is soon met by Vladimir, played by Alexander Davies. This is Davies’ first appearance at CLT, and he proves to be a real find. So much of Vladimir’s part is in the physicality of the character, and Davies both delivers the dialogue with sprightly articulation and accompanies it with some beautifully nuanced gestures. Watch out for the darting eyes that speak as loudly as his words.
The dynamic, of course, changes dramatically with the arrival of Pozzo, leading Lucky on a leash. Much debate has been made over the years as to the meaning of this pair, but in Johnstone’s reading of the work there is a definite feeling, as has sometimes been suggested, that they are in some way a duplicate or living ghost of Vladimir and Estragon, whereby the central duo get a sort of human mirror for their own inner reflections. Gary Jones’ Pozzo is shabbily aristocratic, and has an air about him of ‘The Scottish Play’s Porter. Interestingly, he elects to play much of his first act dialogue almost as direct asides to the audience. Whilst at first this may feel a little strange, the amount of eye contact that he makes with us during Act I throws his sightless appearance in Act II into stark contrast. At the other end of Pozzo’s long leash is Nala Rollo as Lucky. Rollo has been drafted in at short notice to cover a cast illness, and is on book for Lucky’s single and noteworthy chunk of hefty, unbroken dialogue. Whilst this gives it the feel of a speech rather than a stream of consciousness, it does nothing to detract from the impact of it, and it is met with spontaneous applause. More to the point, Lucky is for the rest of his stage time a completely mute character, and Rollo does a tremendous job of the wordless pantomime, playing it with great subtlety.
‘Boy’ appears in much the way of Winnie’s bell for sleeping in Happy Days, heralding the drawing close of each act. In another CLT debut, Freddie Blackmore acquits himself nobly in this brief but pivotal role. It is testament to both the physical comedy of Davies as well as Blackmoor’s aplomb and poise that he manages by the skin of his teeth to maintain a straight face to the end of his appearance.
Waiting for Godot is one of those icons of drama that has to be seen by anyone interested in theatre, and this neatly staged and deftly performed production hits the spot in every department, allowing the masterful writing to tell its own story without being overshadowed by unnecessary flummery.
Outstanding.
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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| Alexander Davies, Rob Turner, Nala Rollo and Gary Jones in Waiting for Godot - © Stephen Cain Photography |
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