The Forum Waiting for Godot: The play that changed the rules of theatre
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Aug 4, 2018 Anna McMullan, a Professor of Theatre and co-Director of the Beckett International Foundation, joins Benjy Francis, South African director known for his groundbreaking all-black cast of Waiting for Godot during apartheid, and Garry Hynes, artistic director of Druid Theatre. They explore how Beckett reshaped theatre, the philosophical underpinnings of the play, and its interpretations across global contexts. Francis shares insights on the political impact of his directorial debut, while Hynes discusses contemporary relevance and casting debates.
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Theatre Reduced To Its Essentials
- Beckett stripped theatre to essentials: actors, audience, and passing time to symbolise life between birth and death.
- This reduction makes Waiting for Godot a universal meditation on how we occupy time.
Language As Creative Reset
- Beckett chose French to escape Joyce's shadow and find a new voice while living in Paris.
- He then reworked the play into English himself, treating the English version as a fresh writing rather than a translation.
Why Audiences Reacted Differently
- French audiences accepted Godot due to an existing avant-garde theatre tradition in Paris.
- Irish audiences also connected through familiar figures like the itinerant 'player' and Beckett's Irish-inflected language.
