About Waiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot is considered the masterpiece of existentialism, in which Samuel Beckett explores the futility of man's hope.

In Waiting for Godot, two wandering tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, wait by a lonely tree, to meet up with Mr. Godot, an enigmatic figure in a world where time, place and memory are blurred and meaning is where you find it. The tramps hope that Godot will change their lives for the better. Instead, two eccentric travelers arrive, one man on the end of the other's rope. The results are both funny and dangerous in this existential masterpiece. Waiting for Godot premiered on January 5, 1953 in the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris. The production was directed by Roger Blin, who also played the role of Pozzo.

MEDIA

“A witty and poetic conundrum.” – Philip Hope-Wallace, The Guardian

“It is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. But you can expect witness to the strange power this drama has to convey the impression of some melancholy truths about the hopeless destiny of the human race.” – Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times

“Although Waiting for Godot is a "puzzlement," as the King of Siam would express it, Mr. Beckett is no charlatan. He has strong feelings about the degradation of mankind, and he has given vent to them copiously. "Waiting for Godot" is all feeling. Perhaps that is why it is puzzling and convincing at the same time. Theatregoers can rail at it, but they cannot ignore it. For Mr. Beckett is a valid writer.” – Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times

Birmingham Festival Theatre