WEBVTT 00:00:07.064 --> 00:00:09.094 A shabby man named Estragon, 00:00:09.094 --> 00:00:12.924 sits near a tree at dusk and struggles to remove his boot. 00:00:12.924 --> 00:00:14.804 He’s soon joined by his friend Vladimir, 00:00:14.804 --> 00:00:17.104 who reminds his anxious companion that 00:00:17.104 --> 00:00:20.564 they must wait here for someone called Godot. 00:00:20.564 --> 00:00:23.964 So begins a vexing cycle in which the two debate 00:00:23.964 --> 00:00:26.484 when Godot will come, why they’re waiting, 00:00:26.484 --> 00:00:29.794 and whether they’re even at the right tree. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:29.794 --> 00:00:32.994 From here, Waiting for Godot only gets stranger - 00:00:32.994 --> 00:00:35.504 but it’s considered a play that changed 00:00:35.504 --> 00:00:37.634 the face of modern drama. 00:00:37.634 --> 00:00:41.963 Written by Samuel Beckett between 1949 and 1955, 00:00:41.963 --> 00:00:45.623 it offers a simple but stirring question - 00:00:45.623 --> 00:00:49.873 what should the characters do? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:49.873 --> 00:00:52.963 Estragon: Don’t let's do anything. It's safer. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:52.963 --> 00:00:56.663 Vladimir: Let’s wait and see what he says. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:56.663 --> 00:00:57.993 Estragon: Who? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:57.993 --> 00:00:59.663 Vladimir: Godot. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:59.663 --> 00:01:01.693 Estragon: Good idea. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:01.693 --> 00:01:04.223 Such cryptic dialogue and circular reasoning are 00:01:04.223 --> 00:01:07.163 key features of the Theatre of the Absurd, 00:01:07.163 --> 00:01:10.413 a movement which emerged after the Second World War 00:01:10.413 --> 00:01:12.263 and found artists struggling 00:01:12.263 --> 00:01:15.183 to find meaning in devastation. 00:01:15.183 --> 00:01:19.343 The absurdists deconstructed plot, character and language 00:01:19.343 --> 00:01:21.853 to question their meaning and share 00:01:21.853 --> 00:01:25.633 their profound uncertainty on stage. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:25.633 --> 00:01:27.613 While this may sound grim, 00:01:27.613 --> 00:01:30.793 the absurd blends its hopelessness with humor. 00:01:30.793 --> 00:01:33.373 This is reflected in Beckett’s unique approach 00:01:33.373 --> 00:01:35.493 to genre in Waiting for Godot, 00:01:35.493 --> 00:01:39.633 which he branded “a tragicomedy in two acts." 00:01:39.633 --> 00:01:42.083 Tragically, the characters are locked in an 00:01:42.083 --> 00:01:45.203 existential conundrum: they wait in vain 00:01:45.203 --> 00:01:47.963 for an unknown figure to give them a sense of purpose, 00:01:47.963 --> 00:01:49.863 but their only sense of purpose 00:01:49.863 --> 00:01:52.583 comes from the act of waiting, 00:01:52.583 --> 00:01:55.263 While they wait, they sink into boredom, 00:01:55.263 --> 00:02:00.253 express religious dread and contemplate suicide. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:00.253 --> 00:02:03.683 But comically, there is a jagged humor to their predicament, 00:02:03.683 --> 00:02:06.513 which comes across in their language and movements. 00:02:06.513 --> 00:02:09.733 Their interactions are filled with bizarre wordplay, 00:02:09.733 --> 00:02:11.613 repetition and double entendres, 00:02:11.613 --> 00:02:14.723 as well as physical clowning, singing and dancing, 00:02:14.725 --> 00:02:17.325 and frantically swapping their hats. 00:02:17.325 --> 00:02:19.955 It’s often unclear whether the audience is supposed to 00:02:19.955 --> 00:02:22.835 laugh or cry - or whether Beckett saw 00:02:22.835 --> 00:02:25.855 any difference between the two. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:25.855 --> 00:02:27.915 Born in Dublin, Beckett studied English, 00:02:27.915 --> 00:02:30.895 French and Italian before moving to Paris, 00:02:30.895 --> 00:02:33.605 where he spent most of his life writing theatre, 00:02:33.605 --> 00:02:35.705 poetry and prose. 00:02:35.705 --> 00:02:38.575 While Beckett had a lifelong love of language, 00:02:38.575 --> 00:02:42.575 he also made space for silence by incorporating gaps, 00:02:42.575 --> 00:02:46.575 pauses and moments of emptiness into his work. 00:02:46.575 --> 00:02:50.265 This was a key feature of his trademark 00:02:50.265 --> 00:02:53.155 uneven tempo and black humor, 00:02:53.155 --> 00:02:56.405 which became popular throughout the Theatre of the Absurd. 00:02:56.405 --> 00:02:58.885 He also cultivated a mysterious persona, 00:02:58.885 --> 00:03:02.235 and refused to confirm or deny any speculations 00:03:02.235 --> 00:03:04.585 about the meaning of his work. 00:03:04.585 --> 00:03:06.175 This kept audiences guessing, 00:03:06.175 --> 00:03:09.395 increasing their fascination with his surreal worlds 00:03:09.395 --> 00:03:12.427 and enigmatic characters. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:12.427 --> 00:03:15.287 The lack of any clear meaning makes Godot 00:03:15.287 --> 00:03:17.547 endlessly open to interpretation. 00:03:17.547 --> 00:03:20.767 Critics have offered countless readings of the play, 00:03:20.767 --> 00:03:24.387 resulting in a cycle of ambiguity and speculation 00:03:24.387 --> 00:03:27.627 that mirrors the plot of the drama itself. 00:03:27.627 --> 00:03:30.727 It's been read as an allegory of the Cold War, 00:03:30.727 --> 00:03:33.217 the French Resistance, 00:03:33.217 --> 00:03:36.227 and Britain’s colonization of Ireland. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:36.227 --> 00:03:38.317 The dynamic of the two protagonists has 00:03:38.317 --> 00:03:40.467 also sparked intense debate. 00:03:40.467 --> 00:03:43.307 They’ve been read as survivors of the apocalypse, 00:03:43.307 --> 00:03:45.817 an aging couple, two impotent friends, 00:03:45.817 --> 00:03:51.537 and even as personifications of Freud’s ego and id. 00:03:51.537 --> 00:03:53.707 Famously, Beckett said the only thing he could 00:03:53.707 --> 00:03:56.707 be sure of was that Vladimir and Estragon 00:03:56.707 --> 00:03:59.667 were "wearing bowler hats." 00:03:59.667 --> 00:04:02.567 Like the critical speculation and maddening plot, 00:04:02.567 --> 00:04:05.227 their language often goes in circles as the two 00:04:05.235 --> 00:04:08.405 bicker and banter, lose their train of thought, 00:04:08.405 --> 00:04:11.285 and pick up right where they left off: NOTE Paragraph 00:04:11.285 --> 00:04:14.335 Vladimir: We could start all over again perhaps NOTE Paragraph 00:04:14.335 --> 00:04:16.475 Estragon: That should be easy NOTE Paragraph 00:04:16.475 --> 00:04:19.395 Vladimir: It’s the start that’s difficult NOTE Paragraph 00:04:19.395 --> 00:04:21.815 Estragon: You can start from anything NOTE Paragraph 00:04:21.815 --> 00:04:24.285 Vladimir: Yes, but you have to decide. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:24.285 --> 00:04:28.175 Beckett reminds us that just like our daily lives, 00:04:28.175 --> 00:04:31.245 the world onstage doesn’t always make sense. 00:04:31.245 --> 00:04:34.925 It can explore both reality and illusion, 00:04:34.925 --> 00:04:37.025 the familiar and the strange. 00:04:37.025 --> 00:04:40.555 And although a tidy narrative still appeals, 00:04:40.555 --> 00:04:45.575 the best theatre keeps us thinking – and waiting.