Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” is a historically rich theater performance with a dense and complicated history. The play is notoriously difficult to attain rights for due to Beckett’s copyright agreements and stipulations, yet local performers at The Boise Hive created a fresh take on the historic play.
Drake Shannon, the director of this rendition of “Waiting for Godot” is aiming to target the tough and stigmatized realm of men’s mental health within this play, accompanied by actors Maxim Dambrin (Estragon), Sean Brosnan (Vladimir), Ethan Emmons (The Boy), Tom Velasco (Pozzo) and Tucker Maile (Lucky).
“Waiting for Godot” strays from traditional theatrical performances, the play follows Vladimir and Estragon as they wait for the titular “Godot”. As they wait, Vladimir and Estragon engage in a variety of discussions and encounters as they continue to wait for the absent Godot.
The play only has five characters throughout the entire performance. Estragon and Vladimir are the leading characters and take up the most space. It is in these moments where the characters delve into the realm of mental health.
“We’ve heightened the suffering in it. And I think if there was ever a time to heighten and shine a light on the suffering, especially the way men deal with suffering, it would be now…” said Brosnan. “It’s very hard to tell your friend how you feel, it’s very hard for men to reach out and say, ‘I’m hurting’ or ‘I’m suffering’ and yet at the same time, we desperately need to.”
While the play focuses on Estragon and Vladimir simply waiting, there is much to be felt within the characters and their interactions. The waiting of these characters allows for intense and dramatic dialogue, allowing viewers to take a look at something rare: men seeking vulnerability.
“I think it’s going to allow men to see that it’s alright to get uncomfortable,” said Brosnan. “And that you can still be tough and cry. Boys don’t cry, men do.”
While the show bares no specific plot line besides waiting for Godot, the ambiguity of the performance holds space for new beliefs and interpretations.
“We are letting the audience make up what they think about it [the play],” said Dambrin. “Life is really what happens while waiting … dialogue is the action in this play.”
The cast of this play is taking new directions regarding this play in many ways, one of which being the importance of physical and facial movement to further highlight the nuances within their dialogue, furthering the discretion they share regarding the men’s mental health aspect.
“There’s just a lot of talk. So what we’ve done is we see action and we see visceral movement and we see nuance in almost every line,” said Shannon. “So the way to make that rich for the audience is to draw that out on that character’s faces.”
“Waiting for Godot” is truly a unique experience, Beckett created this piece with genuine ambiguity and all viewers can derive their own vision of what their “Godot” is.
“There’s so many different ways that you can view it and that’s what’s so beautiful,” said Emmons. “I think that says so much about life, and I think this play encompasses so much within life.”
The play can be seen at The Boise Hive Aug. 20 – 25. It is not often this play comes to life, see it while it is here.
waiting for godotYou can watch “Waiting for Godot” Aug. 20 – 25 at Boise State University’s Special Events Center. It is not often a play of this nature comes to life, so be sure to see it while it is here.
