Stuart Davies and Damien O'Keeffe, as Estragon and Vladimir are superb as the principle characters, waiting compulsively for Godot to come. Ben Eagle plays Pozzo with menace and pathos leading his ironically named slave Lucky, played by Martin Knowles around the stage in a grizzly noose.
 | | Samuel Beckett: Godot creator |
This is a demanding play representing Beckett's bleak view of the human condition. Absolutely original in concept, it has been called the most influential play of the second half of the twentieth century. Its dialogue is economical and surgically precise and with its minimal set it leaves the actors no hiding place for any errors! The two main characters: Estragon, a decaying tramp with smelly feet, and Vladimir his partner of long standing, another tramp with bladder problems and smelly breath, spend the whole play on an unchanging set consisting of a few palettes and a bare tree. They talk about a past of which they are unclear and are only clear about the fact that they are waiting for Godot who is never described or identified.Ìý They constantly look for distractions to 'pass the time', like making conversation or verbally abusing one another. | "I don't want to give the end away except to say that it is not a happy one!" | | Jim Wilson |
When Pozzo enters with swaggering confidence they are excited to think that it might be Godot himself but they are ultimately disappointed as Pozzo collapses into confusion and leaves the stage blind and helpless. The action is often absurd and random, with dialogue starting and ending in the middle of sentences. The tramps frequently assert their free will: they talk of splitting up and going their separate ways or going to the Pyrenees and they reminisce vaguely about grape picking in Burgundy but they seem predestined to stay where they are, wait for Godot. This is apparently a testing of the existentialist idea that life is determined by our actions and not predetermined for us. Beckett saw the play as symbolizing the human condition as a period of waiting and, as they wait, the tramps have a wide range of human experiences: fear, boredom, violence, hunger, disappointment, pity. I don't want to give the end away except to say that it is not a happy one but it will set you thinking about the nature of your existence, whether you want to or not.Ìý Paper Zoo rooted me to my seat for the two one hour acts and even managed to wring a few laughs out of the remorselessly bleak dialogue and even if I never figured out who or what Godot was or exactly what it was all about, the wait was worth it just to see O'Keefe's jigs! | 
