Manchester Theatre News & Reviews

REVIEW - Waiting For Godot is engaging and entertaining, full of thought-provoking themes and poignant lines

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We were invited to the Octagon Theatre, Bolton to see Waiting For Godot. Read what our reviewer Karen Ryder had to say about this powerful play...

Waiting For Godot has won me over! There is a sentence I never thought I’d say but here we are, a fitting tribute to a play that is searching for meaning, and I finally found meaning of this Samuel Beckett beast at the Octagon in Bolton! Who’da thunk it! Essentially, it is a play about nothing. Two vagrants, friends forever, with nothing to do to pass their time or life away, try to find something to do. And so they wait, they wait for Godot, a character who may or may not be real, may be a product of faith, or a real life acquaintance. But the draw of the play lies in the very essence of its characters having nothing to do, for we are retracted into the workings of their minds, and you can’t help but recognise comparisons to our own inner thoughts. We are driven by emotional desires such as connection, friendship, and love, and consistent with our physical needs such as hunger, pain, mental coherence, and physical ailments.

Vladimir and Estragon have the kind of chats born out of years of friendship, of knowing each other inside out, their brains working succinctly in a familiar shorthand. One dreams and wants to share them, the other doesn’t want to hear. They bicker, they fight, then they nurture with immediate effect. And then they encounter Pozzo and Lucky, a Master and his slave, who they initially mistake for Godot, such is his presence. These characters offer a welcome distraction from nothingness, but they are both appalled and intrigued by the way Lucky is treated. Their minds flit back and forth between the uncertainty of whether Pozzo is a good Master or a cruel one, and this reflects the over arching theme we all face. Uncertainty. It is a treacherous place to be held prisoner, one we often feel we have no choice but to surrender too due to circumstance, and this lays the foundation for Vladimir and Estragon’s existential and absurd crisis. Why are they here? When will it end? Where is here? Who are they?

Matthew Kelly (Noises Off, Cold Blood, The Gap, Of Mice & Men) and George Costigan (The Duchess Of Malfi, Happy Valley, Long Day’s Journey Into The Night, Rita, Sue & Bob Too) are exemplary as Estragon (Gogo) and Vladimir (Didi). Their loyal and complex friendship oozes into every nook and cranny of the theatre, allowing us to fully believe these two have been friends forever and know each other inside out. We see the longitude and depth of their relationship through every deliciously thought out action, facial expression, movement, pause, and vocal choices. They irritate and irate each other, shelter and support, and comfort and care before constantly threatening to leave each other, knowing deep down that they never will. They know one another inside out, have the kind of friendship where they not only finish sentences but also thoughts, and we see these years of friendship play out across the two days in which the play is set. It is marvellous and utterly captivating. The play may have existentialism at its heart, but for me it shows that nothing is always something if you have a loyal companion by your side. Matthew Kelly brings us a frailty and pessimistic outlook as Gogo, always resigned to nothingness with his repetition of “Nothing to be done.” We feel his ache of loneliness and fear by the way he shuffles round and can break into tears mid sentence. He distracts himself from nothing by hyper fixation on physical needs such as pain and hunger and carries a child like quality that makes you want to look after him. Despite the forlorn nature of his character, it is infused with humour, particularly Northern speech patterns and nuances that draw us in and allow us to laugh at the absurdity.

George Costigan as Didi introduces us to the philosophical questions of the play the existentialism of life, of their existence. He is more hopeful and has faith that this unknown character, Godot, will appear and solve all their problems, or at the very least, offer some answers. Even when he knows deep in his heart that Godot isn’t coming, he vows to return and wait, because what if……? What if he’s wrong? The performance is a stunning mixture of humour, fear, confusion, hope, faith, and heartache. He is the only one who remembers anything, leaving him in a lonely place. He displays frustration born out of fear, love, longing, and hope and it is a complex heady mix that is executed to perfection. Together, this duo bring us a tragi-comedy duo whose co-dependency is exquisitely mastered through comradery, slapstick, banter, and humour.

Gbolahan Obisesan (Forty-Something, The Mountaintop, The Bird Woman Of Lewisham, Sex Education, writer & director inc Mad About The Boy) and Michael Hodgson (Oliver Twist, Road, Romeo & Juliet, First Knight, Smoggie Queens) are Pozzo and Lucky. These are an incredible pairing where physicality and vocal command drive the power dynamics and their shift between the two acts. We are treated to the indulgent and pompous Pozzo through big sweeping gestures and dynamic monologues, commanding the stage and space with authority and aura. Lucky operates at the other extreme, a contorted physical presence, communicating though a series of shuffles, grunts and squeaks. When given permission to speak, we see glimmers of intellect trying to break through the confusion. They are the antithesis of each other, yet unable to survive their roles without the other. We see a huge shift in the second act when Pozzo is blind and the rope between himself and Lucky is no longer commanded by him. He is reliant, has lost control, and is now dependant on the very person he used as his slave, entirely upturning the relationship dynamic. We see this not only with the obvious such as him falling down, unable to get up unaided, but with altered vocal patterns, a diminished physical presence, and more tactile reliance. Lucky makes himself perfectly understood through a series of noises and physical stances. Despite how badly he is treated, he won’t drop the things he carries as he fears it will make him redundant, so to stay offers him identity, even if it is a torturous one. The stamina and control displayed through this performance is phenomenal and constant throughout. As his speech is removed in Act 2, the physicality becomes even more prominent, and we understand his beliefs of his place in life.

Directed by Dominic Hill, an infectious energy and humour has been brought to a play about nothingness and questioning the very meaning of life. On the surface, you would perhaps be forgiven for thinking this play would drag and feel full of despair, draining your energy, as has indeed been my previous experience of it, but in actual fact, the direction and performance is full of life, full of the kind of human spirit that is hard wired for survival and to keep going in the hope, the desire that there is something more. The relationships and characters may be outside of our own life experience, yet we recognise ourselves in them, their ability to pass the time, to create something out of nothing, to hope, to wish, to believe and have faith in something, anything, to try and make sense of why we are all here. We have all had moments of power, moments of submission, all felt alone, lost, and for the first time, this production allowed me to come away with an answer. What is it all about? What is the meaning of existence? For me, it is connection. Deep, solid, messy, fiery, incoherent, sweet connection. If we have one person to share it with, one person who knows us inside out, upside out, and truly sees us, understands us with authenticity, we have life. This production made me engage with this play for the first time and I confess I was not looking forward to it based on my previous experiences (mainly it being badly taught at university) but my mind was eagerly persuaded and completely changed. With set and costume design by Jean Chan, the ambience and starkness was perfectly captured. A large tree growing through the remains of a car the only set, apart from the odd place to sit and rest. The floor sprinkled with peat or bark, evoking desolation and dirt, a backdrop of nothingness, ripped and torn. It all said something, without saying anything, a beautiful metaphor of the play itself.

There are some incredible lines in Sameul Beckett’s Waiting For Godot, whether they be poignant, absurd, funny, or captivating. Some of my favourites being “We are all born mad. Some remain so” or "We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?" And of course one of the most popular, "The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops." It is a play to enjoy, but a play that makes you think, makes you question, and makes you search for a little more meaning and quality in your own life. It is entertaining, compassionate, complex, simple, and a beautiful ode to the contradiction of life. It manages to embody that shared human experience of searching for meaning, love, and connection whilst balancing the crazy reality of living in a world often fuelled by hate, death, separation, loneliness, and fear.

It is a beautiful slice of the uncertainty of life and Waiting For Godot leans into the absurdity and humour in that, a vital choice to stop us all from drowning. I am thrilled I saw this production of Waiting For Godot and finally understood why so many love it. The characters find no sense in life, but in finding no sense, we surely are all connected by this same notion, and that connection is the key to surviving it all. I have to give this production a 5* review as I had spent all week telling anyone who cared to listen that I didn’t like this play and never understood Beckett, and I am leaving fully engaged, entertained, challenged, full of discussions and enthusiasm, telling everyone I see they must go and watch Waiting For Godot at the Octagon in Bolton.

WE SCORE WAITING FOR GODOT...