Wellington Political Theatre’s Waiting for Godot – a review

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, October 17th, 2017 - 12 comments
Categories: election 2017, humour - Tags: , ,

Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot by the city’s oldest company, the Wellington Political Theatre, is a triumph.

WPT stalwart Bill English delivers a solid, if unimaginative performance as Estragon. His brooding presence is the very embodiment of a sense of inevitable doom as he wrestles listlessly with his gumboots. Newcomer Jacinda Ardern is a revelation as Vladimir. Her deft touch creates an instant rapport with the audience, drawing us in to the hopeless wait for the titular Godot and imbuing it with a sense of universal significance. Their burden becomes our burden, as we all wait for forces beyond our control to determine our fate.

Perhaps the true genius of this production is the bold decision to re-imagine the supporting roles of Lucky and Pozzo and cast them as ensembles representing character archetypes of The Voter and The Press. This allows the director to explore the inner conflicts of The Voter and the sense of reason divided against itself becomes the thematic engine that drives the play’s narrative arc. In a very real sense only some of us can ever be Lucky at the conclusion of this drama.

True to Beckett’s austere vision the staging of this masterpiece is stark. The essential tree is supplemented only by a battered beehive languishing forlornly beneath its dead branches. The significance of this symbolic void becomes both a metaphor for our essential powerlessness and one of the play’s most tragic and enduring images – empty, pensive, hopelessly waiting…

12 comments on “Wellington Political Theatre’s Waiting for Godot – a review ”

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  1. Robert Guyton 1
    17 October 2017 at 8:03 am

    Renaming the play, “Waiting for God-knows-what” was a master-stroke!

  2. mac1 2
    17 October 2017 at 8:25 am

    Who’s the director again?

    I understand that stage directions have been altered, e.g. “Exit stage left pursued by Press”.

    A brilliant modern adaptation to the former sword-fighting scene is one touted as performed by tweets which appear simultaneously on stage and screen.

    The ending is to be given extra poignancy by the playing of Lorde’s “Help Us”.

    A not to be missed production. It is scheduled already for a re-run in 2020.

  3. One Anonymous Bloke 3
    17 October 2017 at 8:27 am

    Giving serious consideration to the country’s future takes longer than a day or two?

    It’s political correctness gone mad!

  4. miravox 4
    17 October 2017 at 8:43 am

    This month, the Dutch coalition negotiations were completed on October 9th.

    The election was 15th March.

    They seem pretty relaxed about it.

  5. mac1 5
    17 October 2017 at 8:51 am

    And Anthony Robins, congrats on a very clever piece of writing. Absolutely in the style!

  6. ianmac 6
    17 October 2017 at 8:57 am

    “Woe, wail, Grizzle!” cry the Press. “Oh why must we create words for Estragon since his words are scarce. In times past we reported the news. Now we must fill the void with garbage. Woe, woe, woe.”

  7. Ad 7
    17 October 2017 at 10:21 am

    Top work Anthony.

  8. left_forward 8
    17 October 2017 at 11:00 am

    Very good Rob – enjoyed this a lot.

  9. veutoviper 9
    17 October 2017 at 1:26 pm

    Thanks Rob – brilliant and a good release from the uncertainty, tension and frayed nerves many are experiencing.

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