Beckett's absurdist classic is brought to the stage in Orlando
Ah, the absurdity of attempting an educated review of a theater of the absurd classic like "Waiting for Godot." You see, if you have never seen a Samuel Beckett piece, particularly this one, nothing I say will do it justice. And if you have seen it before, nothing I write will match what your own imagination and interpretation has created.
Staged here with a wonderful minimalistic set design by Stephen Ricker, director Joshua Baggett [Bradley] and Relevant Theatrics bring us the familiar story (or not) of Vladimir (Alan Sincic) and Estragon (Brett Carson), two old friends who spend day after day confronting the seeming meaningless nature of life as they wait for the mysterious Godot (whose name is pronounced differently at intervals in the story with the intended effect) to appear. Along the way, they encounter the almost bipolar Pozzo (Cory Boughton) and his slave/servant, Lucky (Kimberly Luffman). At the end of every day, Vladimir has a visit from a Boy (Toni Clair) with news of Godot.
Is Godot a stand in for God? Will these friends ever find peace, let alone happiness? What does all this mean to you, the audience member? For this and other answers, one must go and experience this very credible production and make up one’s own mind.
Brett Carson is wonderful as Estragon, squeezing every last bit of sarcasm, exasperation, and laughs out of the material. In addition to his fine comedic abilities, Carson has the ability to draw us into his ever expressive face in moments of anguish or sadness without ever veering into over sentimentality. Sincic is Carson’s equal in portraying a man desperately trying to make sense of the nonsensical and hanging on to the meaning he seems to find in his friendship with Estragon, all the while maintaining a veneer of calm and peacefulness. Sincic does more meaningful acting with a look or a smile than some actors do with much rage and fury.
Among the supporting cast, Boughton is quite engaging as Pozzo. With an appearance and expressions that are quite Chaplin-esque, Boughton is at turns demeaning, condescending, powerful, overwrought, sympathetic, deplorable and much more. Luffman, as Lucky, does her best with a role that requires a certain sense of emptiness and non-participation in the events surrounding him. Looking haggard to the point of having one ready to dial 911 for her, she takes a part ordinarily cast with a male and hits the right note of detachment. Clair, as Boy (again a role normally cast in different gender), seems ill at ease with her participation in the pain suffered by Vladimir and by extension Estragon.
In a work that has help inspire countless arguments, interpretations and a movement, Relevant Theatrics and Baggett [Bradley] deliver a well conceived, finely acted, credible staging of a work designed to have you talking about it for many moons to come, for worse or for better.
- Paul Castaneda