[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.06,0:00:09.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A shabby man named Estragon,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.09,0:00:12.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sits near a tree at dusk and struggles to remove his boot.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.92,0:00:14.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He’s soon joined by his friend Vladimir,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.80,0:00:17.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who reminds his anxious companion that
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.10,0:00:20.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they must wait here for someone called Godot.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.56,0:00:23.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So begins a vexing cycle in which the two debate
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.96,0:00:26.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when Godot will come, why they’re waiting,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.48,0:00:29.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and whether they’re even at the right tree.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.79,0:00:32.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From here, Waiting for Godot only gets stranger -
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.99,0:00:35.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it’s considered a play that changed
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.50,0:00:37.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the face of modern drama.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.63,0:00:41.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Written by Samuel Beckett between 1949 and 1955,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.96,0:00:45.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it offers a simple but stirring question -
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.62,0:00:49.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what should the characters do?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.87,0:00:52.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Estragon: Don’t let's do anything. It's safer.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.96,0:00:56.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vladimir: Let’s wait and see what he says.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.66,0:00:57.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Estragon: Who?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.99,0:00:59.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vladimir: Godot.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.66,0:01:01.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Estragon: Good idea.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.69,0:01:04.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Such cryptic dialogue and circular reasoning are
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.22,0:01:07.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,key features of the Theatre of the Absurd,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.16,0:01:10.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a movement which emerged after the Second World War
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.41,0:01:12.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and found artists struggling
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.26,0:01:15.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to find meaning in devastation.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.18,0:01:19.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The absurdists deconstructed plot, character and language
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.34,0:01:21.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to question their meaning and share
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.85,0:01:25.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their profound uncertainty on stage.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.63,0:01:27.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While this may sound grim,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.61,0:01:30.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the absurd blends its hopelessness with humor.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.79,0:01:33.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is reflected in Beckett’s unique approach
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.37,0:01:35.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to genre in Waiting for Godot,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.49,0:01:39.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which he branded “a tragicomedy in two acts."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.63,0:01:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Tragically, the characters are locked in an
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.08,0:01:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,existential conundrum: they wait in vain
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.20,0:01:47.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for an unknown figure to give them a sense of purpose,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.96,0:01:49.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but their only sense of purpose
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.86,0:01:52.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,comes from the act of waiting,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.58,0:01:55.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While they wait, they sink into boredom,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.26,0:02:00.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,express religious dread and contemplate suicide.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.25,0:02:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But comically, there is a jagged humor to their predicament,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.68,0:02:06.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which comes across in their language and movements.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.51,0:02:09.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their interactions are filled with bizarre wordplay,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.73,0:02:11.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,repetition and double entendres,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.61,0:02:14.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as physical clowning, singing and dancing,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.72,0:02:17.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and frantically swapping their hats.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.32,0:02:19.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s often unclear whether the audience is supposed to
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.96,0:02:22.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,laugh or cry - or whether Beckett saw
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.84,0:02:25.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,any difference between the two.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.86,0:02:27.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Born in Dublin, Beckett studied English,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.92,0:02:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,French and Italian before moving to Paris,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.90,0:02:33.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he spent most of his life writing theatre,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.60,0:02:35.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,poetry and prose.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.70,0:02:38.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While Beckett had a lifelong love of language,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.58,0:02:42.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he also made space for silence by incorporating gaps,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.58,0:02:46.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pauses and moments of emptiness into his work.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.58,0:02:50.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was a key feature of his trademark
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.26,0:02:53.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,uneven tempo and black humor,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.16,0:02:56.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which became popular throughout the Theatre of the Absurd.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.40,0:02:58.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He also cultivated a mysterious persona,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.88,0:03:02.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and refused to confirm or deny any speculations
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.24,0:03:04.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the meaning of his work.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.58,0:03:06.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This kept audiences guessing,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.18,0:03:09.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,increasing their fascination with his surreal worlds
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.40,0:03:12.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and enigmatic characters.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.43,0:03:15.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The lack of any clear meaning makes Godot
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.29,0:03:17.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,endlessly open to interpretation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.55,0:03:20.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Critics have offered countless readings of the play,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.77,0:03:24.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,resulting in a cycle of ambiguity and speculation
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.39,0:03:27.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that mirrors the plot of the drama itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.63,0:03:30.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's been read as an allegory of the Cold War,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.73,0:03:33.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the French Resistance,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.22,0:03:36.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Britain’s colonization of Ireland.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.23,0:03:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The dynamic of the two protagonists has
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.32,0:03:40.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also sparked intense debate.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.47,0:03:43.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They’ve been read as survivors of the apocalypse,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.31,0:03:45.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an aging couple, two impotent friends,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.82,0:03:51.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even as personifications of Freud’s ego and id.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.54,0:03:53.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Famously, Beckett said the only thing he could
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.71,0:03:56.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be sure of was that Vladimir and Estragon
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.71,0:03:59.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were "wearing bowler hats."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.67,0:04:02.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like the critical speculation and maddening plot,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.57,0:04:05.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,their language often goes in circles as the two
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.24,0:04:08.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bicker and banter, lose their train of thought,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.40,0:04:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and pick up right where they left off:\N\N
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.28,0:04:14.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vladimir: We could start all over again perhaps
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.34,0:04:16.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Estragon: That should be easy
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.48,0:04:19.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vladimir: It’s the start that’s difficult
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.40,0:04:21.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Estragon: You can start from anything
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.82,0:04:24.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Vladimir: Yes, but you have to decide.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.28,0:04:28.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beckett reminds us that just like our daily lives,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.18,0:04:31.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the world onstage doesn’t always make sense.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.24,0:04:34.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It can explore both reality and illusion,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.92,0:04:37.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the familiar and the strange.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.02,0:04:40.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And although a tidy narrative still appeals,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.56,0:04:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the best theatre keeps us thinking – and waiting.