by Roman Kacala kacalar.wordpress.com

Contents

•Existentialism •The Characters of the play •Religion/God •Time/Waiting •Language/The play

Samuel Beckett

Jean-Paul Sartre 1905-1980

•‘existence precedes essence’ •Man as the existent individual in his relationship to the universe as well as to others: The Other.

Sartre, J-P. Being and Nothingness.

Søren Kierkegaard 1813-1855

•‘the single individual’ •my life becomes meaningful ‘when I raise myself to the universal’ •through faith the ‘single individual is higher than the universal’ •‘subjectivity is the truth’ Kierkegaard, S. Fear and Trembling

Martin Heidegger 1889-1976

•‘to exist is to be historical’ •‘I must understand my choice in light of the potential wholeness of my existence’ Heidegger, M. Being and Time.

Vladimir and Estragon

•Two friends who are stuck together waiting for something better to come; •Each day in their lives is a repetition of a previous day; •‘Dumb and Dumber’?

National Theatre, Warsaw

Pozzo and Lucky

•The master and the slave dependant on each other; •Though they could separate, they choose not to; •They become physically dependant.

Theatre Royal, Bath

Godot

•Insignificant character? •He may or may not arrive, is it important? •Who is he?

Religion/God

‘The waiting Christian may not presumptuously suppose that salvation is an assured possession, for the future is in God’s hands and not under man’s control.’ I Cor. 4: 4-5

William Blake

Religion/God

Estragon: (...) God have pity on me. Vladimir: [Vexed] And me? Waiting for Godot, p. 69.

The University of Georgia Drama Department

Religion/God

Vladimir: We’re waiting for Godot (...) Estragon: We came too soon. Vladimir: It’s always at nightfall. Estragon: But night doesn’t fall Vladimir: It’ll fall all of a sudden, like yesterday. Estragon: Then it’ll be night. Vladimir: And we can go. Estragon: Then it’ll be day again. [Pause. Despairing] What’ll we do, what’ll we do! Waiting for Godot, p.63.

Classical Theatre of Harlem

Religion/God

Estragon: Let’s go. Vladimir: We can’t. Estragon: Why not? Vladimir: We’re waiting for Godot. Waiting for Godot, p. 41, 59, 62-63, 76-77.

Photo By David Meistrich

Time/Waiting

"Although a 'stream of time' doesn't exist any longer, the 'time material' is not petrified yet; instead of a moving stream, time here has become something like a stagnant mush.“ Günther Andres

Time/Waiting

‘Silence is pouring into this play like water into a sinking ship.’ Samuel Beckett

Time/Waiting

Vladimir: Habit is a great deadener. Vladimir: We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression that we exist? Vladimir: They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more. Waiting for Godot

Scena Theatre

Modern world

‘Modern rushing and dashing about is frozen into quasi immobility, and our big cities (...) fade, like Brigadoon, into solitude of the desolate country landscape.’ Harvey, L. E. p. 139

London, Peter Hall Co.

Language

‘The myth of progress falls in Lucky’s speech, in which we learn that man, in spite of vitamins, sanitation, penicillin, and physical education, is in the process of shrinking.’ Harvey, L. E. p. 139

London, Peter Hall Co.

The Play

‘We have human existence in the play, and play in human existence. The one gives depth and gravity, the other pleasure and diversion.’ Harvey, L. E. p. 145

The Gate Theatre of Dublin, Ireland