Waiting for Godot – Samuel Beckett (1953) Drama

20th Century Drama, premiered in 05/01/1953 at The Theatre de Babylone, the premier was directed by Roger Blin. The English version premiered in London in 1955.

Originally written in French between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949.

Genre: Tragicomedy

Waiting for Godot is a translation of French original En Attendant Godot and its subtitle(in English) is: “a tragicomedy in two acts”

British Royal National theater in a poll decided it as the “most significant English language play of the 20th Century.

Plot:

Act I

Opening: Vladimir (also called Didi) and Estragon (also called Gogo) meet by a leafless tree, Estragon notifies Vladimir of his most recent troubles. They were both waiting for a man named Godot, they were not certain if they ever met Godot or if he would arrive.

Subsequently a traveler named Pozzo along with his silent traveler Lucky arrived and interrupted their conversation. Pozzo intended to sell Lucky at the market. Lucky was tied with a rope, he could sing and dance.

A boy who is a messenger of Godot arrived suddenly and informed Vladimir and Estragon that Godot would not arrive that night, but he would come the next day.

Act II

They two were waiting and the tree started growing leaves.

Pozzo and Lucky reappear but this time Pozzo is blind and Lucky is mute, Pozzo can not recall ever having met Vladimir and Estragon, who themselves can not agree on when they have seen the travelers.

The messenger boy reappears and informed that Godot would not come and stated he also had never met Vladimir and Estragon before.

Ending: After the messenger boy left, Vladimir and Estragon considered to commit suicide but they did not have a rope with which to hang themselves . They decided to leave and return the day after with a rope but again they merely remain motionless as the scene fades to black.