RESEARCH:
Waiting for Godot
I have decided on doing a production of the famous play Waiting for Godot. Waiting for Godot is one of the most famous plays in the 20th century. Known for being famously weird and mysterious, and making the reader question what the play is actually about. It is a play which is part of the theatre of the Absurd movement. Absurd-ism is a philosophical movement that influenced a lot of 20th century art. The absurd refers to a humans desire to the contradiction between humanities desire to find meaning in the universe and the universe itself which is meaningless. We plan on performing most of the first act and parts of the second act so all in all we perform for around 45 minutes. We would need very few props in order to create the atmosphere as it is mostly created by the personalities of the characters, which are quite bland. In terms of research, my group and I have decided on looking at homelessness, philosophy, memory loss, and early 20th century France to not only dig into the minds of the characters but to also understand the play and get closer to the essence of the meaning, so that we can deliver the play in the most effective way.
UNDERSTANDING ABSURDISM AND ITS RELEVANCE:
Absurdism is a philosophical movement that influenced a lot of 20th century art.In France between 1918 and 1936 it was a time of flourishing thought and culture. At Paris at this time you can also find Samuel Beckett and philosopher Albert Camus.
Samuel Beckett was an Irishmen who moved to Paris in 1928 and at that time there it was popular for being both a philosopher and an artist.
Then World War Two happened and France is invaded. Now Samuel Beckett is a Philosopher, an artist, and part of the resistance. Around this time Camus writes the the Myth of Sisyphus-1942. It’s a philosophical essay. The book questions how we should confront the absurd. The absurd refers to a humans desire to the contradiction between humanities desire to find meaning in the universe and the universe itself which is meaningless. Once you realise life is pointless but you want a point anyway there are 7 possible actions. The first it to kill yourself, the second is to ignore it by filling it with pleasures, another is to deny it and be religious, being an artist and make pieces with meaning is one of the distractions, getting political, being an actor and live lives that have meaning within a plays context, and the 7th one and the one that Camus agreed with was to accept it and to confront this and resist it rather than a sad acceptance. In Greek Mythology, Sisyphus was fated to roll a boulder up a hill everyday and watch it roll down every night. Camus says the only way Sisyphus can be happy is if he accepts the meaninglessness of his life and owns it, and goes down the hill smiling every night. The play is about what people do when confronted with the absurd and when they try to find meaning where meaning doesn’t exist.
When reading Waiting for Godot, it is clear to us through the two acts that whilst waiting for Godot, that Vladimir and Estragon are constantly distracting themselves from the meaninglessness of their lives. Two such examples would be how Vladimir sings at the beginning of the second act, which ties into the idea of being an artist and distracting yourself with your work, and another is suicide which Estragon suggests several times throughout the play.
When reading Waiting for Godot, it is clear to us through the two acts that whilst waiting for Godot, that Vladimir and Estragon are constantly distracting themselves from the meaninglessness of their lives. Two such examples would be how Vladimir sings at the beginning of the second act, which ties into the idea of being an artist and distracting yourself with your work, and another is suicide which Estragon suggests several times throughout the play.
The Protagonists
Vladimir:
He is a bum just like his friend Estragon. He often retains memories of events that happen, but he also questions his memory too when Estragon tells him he’s wrong. His age is not specified. Often tries to indulge in debates on philosophy and religion. He is the one out of the pair of Protagonists to try to convince the other that Godot should come as he has the most hope and faith in the duo.
Estragon:
He is a bum like his friend Vladimir. He often forgets events have happened and if he does remember an event, he wouldn’t remember how many days ago it would have happened leading us to believe he either has dementia or he is just playing pranks to distract himself from the pointlessness of his life. He generally listens to Vladimir rant about philosophy and life.
Estragon or Gogo as I call him, we have been friends since forever, I remember growing up and I always went to his house which was a 30 second walk opposite my house and we always used to play and eventually we began to become dependent on one another. I depend on him being there to listen to my philosophical lectures on epistemology and my views on religion such as Christianity. We both have rapidly declining health due to living a life based on our nihilistic views that life is pointless and we are so unstimulated physically and mentally by the world that we both have dementia. Why am I even talking to you? Who are you? Who am I?
Pozzo:
Owns a pig named Lucky. Owns the land that Estragon and Vladimir dwells in. Instead of kicking them out of the land, he engages in discussion with them as he is bored. He cannot remember people he has previously met, just like Estragon. He appears in act two blind, looking for help. His appearance from act one and act two suggest a long progressive passage in time.
Areas of Research
Different versions of the play
Philosophies relevant to play and why the author picked the themes
And the message he wanted to send to the reader
Read different versions
Researched famous productions
Absurd
Why this play?
With so much research done on it, so much freedom to direct the scenes, and the characters always being present on stage, this variety makes the play a perfect pick.
I love challenges and the challenge of learning the quantity of lines that Vladimir has will definitely quench that thirst is have for playing a main character which in the past I haven’t been able to do in college.
Working in a group of reliable actors who do come in nearly every lesson makes me more enthusiastic and will push me to work harder.
Homelessness:
Evidence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdBbR2UNAEo)
I watched a video which presents several homeless people being interviewed as part of my research for the main characters. All the homeless people talked about how their lives became the way they were because they either got unlucky or made stupid decisions when they were young. They all seemed to be nice people and one even talked about how the attire of a homeless person makes people think they are crazy, and so people avoid them. Non of them seemed very angry and they accepted the situation they were in and moved forward. With this information I could determine that the reason Vladimir and Estragon got into this position would be likely because they were unlucky. This could have been due to lack of options for jobs as they were old, and their nihilistic views on life. I suspect this because they feel like they don't have much of a reason for being on earth and so instead of chasing money or pleasures to keep them busy, they assign their purpose to that of waiting for a man named Godot.
Looking at this information I can see that playing Vladimir angrily the whole time, as if he is angry at what the world has given him is not the way to go. Looking at the research I have done my conclusion is that Vladimir needs to be played as if he didn't care about what the world thought about him, and on the most part to remain positive in the given circumstance, unless Estragon effects that fundamental state.
Ying and Yang connection:
https://muckrack.com/alan-geary
http://www.londonclassictheatre.co.uk/index.php/2016/01/waiting-for-godot/
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/godot/characters/
Alex Geary reviewed a production of Waiting for Godot and points out his interpretation of the relationship between Estragon and Vladimir, claiming they are opposites. "it collides opposites: Vladimir (Peter Cadden)
is reflective and refined while Estragon (Richard Heap) is impulsive and blunt." Similar claims have been made on spark notes as it refers to Vladimir and the more mature out of the double and Estragon as the weaker and more forgetful link. With this information we can proceed to make sure that we make it clear and get the message across to the audience that these two characters are quite different. This could be done by posture and costume, and if we decide not to make it clear visually then we can use other methods such as vocals and accents.
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