Last night I had the pleasure of watching my son fully inhabit the part of Vladimir ("Didi"), one of the two main characters in Beckett's well known play. It's a challenging part in a challenging play, and all four actors got well-deserved applause at the end.
I enjoyed the play far more than I expected (and not just because my favorite actor was in it!) Years ago one of the local professional theaters did "Godot," with a Famous New York Actor as the star. The production seemed so pointless and distasteful that I left at intermission.
In this fringe theater staging, I could finally see the humor - and real pathos - inherent in the play. Anyone who has ever tried to communicate with an Alzheimer's patient will get reminiscent jolts from much of the second act interplay between Vladimir and Estragon ("Gogo.")
The venue is a classic "black box" theater - an irregularly-shaped basement space, furnished with second-hand ranks of seats, enlivened (?) by ambient noise from the restaurant upstairs. (Rumor has it that the theater bought felt stick-ons for the restaurant chairs and tables.) The foyer, separated from the performance space by black curtains, has enough room for small cabaret performances. Last night its collection of miscellaneous chairs was distributed along the walls. On the most comfortable-looking one, a hand-made sign said "No. Don't sit here." In an alcove, strings of muliple white Christmas lights outlined a tiny bar.
The things we do for love give us our full humanity.
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I forgot to tell you last night that I was glad you picked up on the Alzheimers nature of some of the Didi-Gogo relationship. I actually thought about that working on the character and specifically about watching Grannie & Granddad together. I hope someday I'll get a chance to explore Didi further.
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