Synopsis Vladimir and Estragon are waiting. Two old men whose compulsion to wait for a visit from the indescribable Godot forces them to pass the time in the only way they can; with and for each other. Stories are told, boots are abandoned, religion is debated, memories of better days are shared - and time passes. Jokes are made, songs are sung, suicide is contemplated, the fear of being alone is overwhelming - and time passes. Chance meetings happen, arguments take place, thinking occurs, violence is advocated, hats are exchanged, friendship is venerated - and time passes. On a road with a single tree two old friends wait... and pass the time. The 1953 drama was voted the most significant play of the century by a poll undertaken by the National Theatre in 1998.
Sting and Paul McCartney seemed impressed (See Also Today’s 1st Night Photos), but did the much-anticipated Ian McKellen-Patrick Stewart double act win over critics as well as rock royalty?
Following an eight-week tour Sean Mathias’ revival of Samuel Beckett’s 1955 classic Waiting for Godot opened last night (6 May 2009, previews from 30 April) at the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket, where it recently extended its season by a month to 26 July (See News, 28 Apr 2009).
In Beckett’s masterpiece, McKellen and Stewart are Estragon and Vladimir, two tramps who pass the time by a deserted road as they wait for the mysterious Godot. They’re joined in the cast by Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup as Pozzo and Lucky. The child actors chosen to alternate in the role of a boy in the West End are: George Sear, Richard Linnell, Sam Walton and Tom Barker (who performed last night).
The production is designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis, with lighting by Paul Pyant, and produced by the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company, in partnership with Duncan C Weldon, as the first offering in a second season of in-house programming, for which Mathias has been appointed as artistic director. Subsequent productions in Mathias’ season – which follows the 2007/8 inaugural season helmed by Jonathan Kent – are expected to be announced imminently.
For most overnight London critics, the McKellen-Stewart pairing in Waiting for Godot is an unqualified success – their interplay was variously described as “inspired”, “outstanding”, “excellent”, “just about everything we could expect Vladimir and Estragon to be” and as “deftly performed as you are ever likely to see”. However, despite the central performances, some still didn’t warm to Beckett’s play in which, famously, nothing happens, twice, and there were reservations about the “coarseness”, “jollity” and “cosy charm” of Sean Mathias’ production. Still, while theatregoers may miss “a full, gut-whacking, nihilistic” Beckett offering here, they’ll no doubt be consoled by the rare “chance to catch two veteran actors at the top of their game”.
Michael Coveney on Whatsonstage.com (four stars) – “In Sean Mathias’ fine and fearless production (nothing sombre or po-faced about it), McKellen and Stewart are ... like two old troupers hanging about for work which might come their way, courtesy of Godot, who seems to have left the office unattended. McKellen’s Estragon is very much the senior partner in a friendship that convincingly dates back, for once, 50 years. And there’s a real poignancy in seeing these distinguished titans of the RSC, feted all over the world these days for their status in the film world, getting right down back to basics ... McKellen in particular conveys the pathos of our everyday insignificance; I rate this one of his truly outstanding performances ... Callow may sound like obvious casting, but his Pozzo is a wonderfully vivid grotesque ... A wonderful revival.”
Michael Billington in the Guardian (three stars) – “Sean Mathias' star-studded revival misses the elegiac musicality of Peter Hall's 2006 production and lends this unnerving play a patina of cosy charm. The governing notion seems to be that Beckett's play is a self-reflexive study of theatre ... Everyone since 1955 has noted the influence of vaudevillian cross-talk and silent-screen comedy on Beckett's writing; and here Didi and Gogo resemble a pair of down-at-heel entertainers ... Stewart lends Didi a tattered dignity and perverse optimism ... McKellen's Gogo is gruffer, seedier and profoundly sceptical ... While highlighting the characters' individuality, the two actors also bring out their interdependence and poignant fear of isolation. Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup seem equally indissoluble as Pozzo and Lucky ... But, while there is much to enjoy in the production, I felt I was watching talented comic performers rather than listening to the still sad music of humanity.”
Nick Curtis in the Evening Standard (three stars) – “The Pat ’n’ Mac double-act turns out to be a inspired pairing, if slightly unbalanced in terms of pathos. As for the play: Sean Mathias’ production harps a bit too much on its music-hall roots ... The two actors movingly express the fond antagonism of a double-act where the patience, and the meagre bookings, ran out long ago ... Of the two, McKellen’s scrubby-bearded Estragon is the more convincingly derelict ... There’s something too irrepressibly twinkly and chipper about Stewart, despite his torn clothes. We miss the anguish beneath the brightness ... Simon Callow plays Pozzo as if simultaneously channelling a cruel ringmaster and Mr Toad. It’s not an invalid reading, just a hammily brash one in keeping with Mathias’ concept ... Ronald Pickup’s Lucky is another impressive but stagey creation ... Waiting for Godot doesn’t gain in depth from repeated viewing ... The coarseness of Mathias’ production is actually rather welcome after years of reverence. And the central double act is as deftly performed as you are ever likely to see it. This is a chance to catch two veteran actors at the top of their game. McKellen and Stewart mesh delightfully together. Although they don’t, perhaps, entirely live up to the hype.”
Benedict Nightingale in The Times (four stars) – “In its 55-year history, Waiting for Godot has attracted some striking and even startling actors ... But last night the appeal to popular taste moved from the comics to the comic books. For fans of the movies based on those books, Sean Mathias’ revival will doubtless go down as the X-Men Godot ... But Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen happen also to be superb classic actors — and they proved it with performances that were at once subtle and commanding, touching and funny, vulnerable and dignified and just about everything we could expect Vladimir and Estragon to be ... Simon Callow’s Pozzo is ... impressive, but maybe Ronald Pickup, playing his slave Lucky, could do more to bring out the true coherence of the most despairing speech even Beckett wrote. But there are no other serious complaints, least of all about the Stewart/McKellen combo. Few could bring such variety to the business of being bored. They’re moving, they’re witty, they’re inventive, they’re - well, excellent.”
Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail – “There is an awful lot of the two stars – Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart – in the swanky, new Waiting for Godot. Stewart, in particular, does not so much play Vladimir the tramp as he plays Patrick Stewart OBE playing Vladimir the tramp ... This is a highly competent Godot, a memorable Godot, sometimes inventive, often entertaining ... Yet the jollity is pushed a little far. One does not leave the theatre stunned by man’s loneliness ... Simon Callow’s Pozzo ... is a circus caricature, instantly striking but of fading appeal. Ronald Pickup, playing his servant Lucky, is a slower burn, thank goodness. People who have managed to secure tickets ... will be able to say they saw ‘the famous McKellen-Stewart Godot’. That is perhaps not quite the same as a full, gut-whacking, nihilistic Beckett Godot. Celebrity has nudged aside art.”
As soon as word went around that the two veteran giants of the Shakespeare-Hollywood crossover, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, were joining forces to do Waiting for Godot there was only one word in my head: unmissable. Of course, like the rest of the world I had seen them together for a few fleeting moments in the X Men films, and despite the CGI that was enough to make me realise that the two of them had the potential to create something very, very special together.
Never having seen Godot before, I went with a light heart: I knew that it might well be something that I wouldn’t enjoy, but I also knew that if these two couldn’t make it work, then it could simply be written off as a piece for which I don’t have the intellectual capacity.
McKellen and Stewart were, simply brilliant by virtue of the fact that they managed to put the real star of the show to the fore: Beckett himself. Their considerable acting skills and Sean Mathias’ directing ensured that far from being a play consisting of two old men talking about nothing, it became a wonderfully uplifting journey through static - or cyclical, depending on which way you look at it – time. Simon Callow’s brutal and grotesque Pozzo provided horror and light relief in equal quantities, while the bizarre Lucky (Ronald Pickup) was distressing to watch. As for the leads themselves: they eked humour out of every line. It was a production full of pathos, but ultimately uplifting: two men in the twilight of their lives, watching time tick by, but making the most of every second of their lives by enjoying each other’s company. A better depiction of friendship I have never seen before. The production also seemed to emphasise just how Irish the play is: men talking about nothing, for days on end, and yet remaining stoically upbeat about the future (with lashings of healthy cynicism thrown in). The best was left until last: the vaudeville curtain call, with bowler hats the stars of the show, was a wonderful way to leave this magnificent production.
- Eoghan O'Neill
14 Sep 09
Though it's the third or fourth time I've seen this play, I still don't have much of a clue what its about! This particular production is lighter and funnier (with lots of music hall and comedy references) but it's the opportuntiy to see some fine fine acting that's the reason to go. McKellern & Stewart are the best double-act I've seen on the stage since Spacey & Goldblum in Speed The Plow at the Old Vic a few years back. Ronald Pickup provides a stunning cameo which drew spontansous applause at the end of his one big speech. Even Simon Callow, who I usually find rather OTT seems completely at home in this role. You can say what you like about star casting, but boy does it pay off here. Samual Beckett selling out in the West End in 2009 - that's something few would have ever predicted. - Gareth James
26 Jul 09
Given my aversion to all things Pinteresque I've always assumed that Beckett would not be to my taste either. But Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in one of the most influential plays of the 20th century is a THEATRICAL EVENT and not to be missed by anyone claiming to be a serious theatregoer. Much to my surprise Sean Mathias' production is fast-paced, entertaining and unexpectedly funny. I haven't got a clue what it's about but does anyone? My guess is that Godot represents death as a release from the desperate lives of Estragon and Vladimir. McKellen and Stewart are on sparkling form, McKellen conveying someone finally weary of the boredom and loneliness of his life and Stewart retaining optimism and beautifully suggesting the depths of affection and mutual reliance of the two old music hall veterans. I'm not sure if Pozzo and Lucky added much to proceedings but this Waiting for Godot was an unexpected delight and one I am very glad to have ticked off my list. - David Baxter
27 May 09
What a brilliantly staged production and a true acting mastercless from Messrs Stewart and McKellen. They both gave quite stunning, effortless performances - two actors at the absolute peak of their powers made it a mesmerising afternoon in the theatre. I love the ambiguities of the play; that it means different things to each of us. Highly recommended, if you can still get a seat - Paul Wallis
17 May 09
A comedically-driven interpretation, cleverly directed to maximise the skills and mutual experience of messers McKellenn and Stuart. These two fine actors played together 35 years ago in the RSC. There is resultant trust, humanity and respect evident on stage throughout. Watch two masters interpret a classic. It may not be to your, or the critic's liking, but this is certainly a very important, new production of one of the 20th Century's classic theatrical texts. Highly recommended. - Nick
13 May 09
Fantastic Production. Wonderful, textured performances by some of the world finest actors. Beautiful set and lighting and I recommend to all! - Mr Hewitt
12 May 09
Really not good at all - a few nice touches towards the end, but really this is a vanity production - far too jovial and playing to the audience. Peter Hall's production from a few years ago was far, far superior. - JJE
10 May 09
Three old luvs ham it up at the expense of the Beckett genius. - joesmith
Opened 29 Dec 1720. Closed in 1737 (partly for attacking the government), re-opened 1747. The current theatre opened on 4th July 1821 and was designed by Nash. The last theatre in London to use candles (1837). 888 seats. Society of London Theatre member.
Whatsonstage.com - Discount London theatre tickets, theatre news and reviews, Theatre videos, Theatre discussion, National Theatre Listings. Covering London's West End, all of Theatreland and all UK theatre. The best
for London Theatre Ticket Discounts.
