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Waiting for Godot

A Tragicomedy in Two Acts

By Samuel Beckett

(590)

| Paperback | 9780802130341

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Book Description

"Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful?" Estragon's complaint, uttered in the first act of "Waiting for Godot", is the playwright's sly joke at the expense of his own play - or rather at the expense of those in the audience who expect theatre always to consist of events progressing Continue

"Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful?" Estragon's complaint, uttered in the first act of "Waiting for Godot", is the playwright's sly joke at the expense of his own play - or rather at the expense of those in the audience who expect theatre always to consist of events progressing in an apparently purposeful and logical manner towards a decisive climax. In those terms, "Waiting for Godot" - which has been famously described as a play in which "nothing happens, twice"- scarcely seems recognizable as theatre at all. As the great English critic wrote "Waiting for Godot jettisons everything by which we recognize theatre. It arrives at the custom-house, as it were, with no luggage, no passport, and nothing to declare; yet it gets through, as might a pilgrim from Mars."

Produced at the state of the art recording studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with sound effects and music.

Performed by James Blendick, Joe Dinicol, Tim MacDonald, Tom McCamus, and Stephen Ouimette

Music composed and performed by Don Horsburgh

Approximate Duration 2 Hours

Critics

  • Play It Again, Sam

    Mike Nichols’s production of Waiting for Godot is so up-to-the-minute that Estragon (Robin Williams), determined to reduce Lucky (Bill Irwin) to silence, screams the supreme insult available in the Age of Bush: “You’re a Liberal.” En attendant Godot ... (read full critics)

    nybooks published on Mon, 23 Aug 2010

13 Reviews

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  • 2 people find this helpful

    Critical comment(s)/introduction:

    A seminal work of twentieth-century drama, [this play] was [the author]'s first professionally produced play. It opened in Paris in 1953 at the tiny Left Bank Theatre de Babylone, and has since become a cornerstone of twentieth-century theater.</p><p>The story line evolves around two se ... (continue)

    A seminal work of twentieth-century drama, [this play] was [the author]'s first professionally produced play. It opened in Paris in 1953 at the tiny Left Bank Theatre de Babylone, and has since become a cornerstone of twentieth-century theater.</p><p>The story line evolves around two seemingly homeless men waiting for someone - or something - named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree on a barren stretch of road, inhabiting a drama spun from their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a somber summation of mankind's inexhaustible search for meaning. Beckett's language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existentialism of post-World War II Europe. His play remains one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time. </p><p>"One of the most noble and moving plays of our generation, a threnody of hope deceived and deferred but never extinguished; a play suffused with tenderness for the whole human perplexity, with phrases that come like a sharp stab of beauty and pain." - The Times (London)</p><p>"Reading Beckett for the first time is an experience like no other in modern literature." - Paul Auster

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    Your Sources said on Apr 23, 2008 | 1 feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    C'è un senso di attesa che percorre tutto il libro, attesa come tentativo di colmare una vita vuota e ripetitiva, i personaggi uniti profondamente (ma quasi per obbligo, come se fosse l'unica certezza) in questa attesa....insomma, non mancano certo spunti di riflessione al termine della lettura! ... (continue)

    C'è un senso di attesa che percorre tutto il libro, attesa come tentativo di colmare una vita vuota e ripetitiva, i personaggi uniti profondamente (ma quasi per obbligo, come se fosse l'unica certezza) in questa attesa....insomma, non mancano certo spunti di riflessione al termine della lettura!

    Estragon: Allons-nous-en.
    Vladimir: On ne peut pas.
    Estragon: Pourquoi?
    Vladimir: On attend Godot.
    Estragon: C’est vrai.

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    lawhite89 said on Dec 31, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    I can certainly state that it is because of this play that I started to love the Theatre of the Absurd. I read it a few times, both in English and French, and I saw it on stage in Milan...and every time I find something new and amazing about this work of pure genius. Plus, sumetimes in real life I f ... (continue)

    I can certainly state that it is because of this play that I started to love the Theatre of the Absurd. I read it a few times, both in English and French, and I saw it on stage in Milan...and every time I find something new and amazing about this work of pure genius. Plus, sumetimes in real life I feel like I was exactly like the protagonists of the play, lost and useless, unable to change, just waiting for God-ot.

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    Zugi ☯ said on Dec 3, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • Masterpiece! You absolutely need to read it and reread it... if you've ever asked to yourself what is the ultimate purpose of life.

    "We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?"

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    manua said on Sep 6, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • It doesn't matter who or what Godot really is. Fact is, that Godot will never appear and this makes almost all interpretations of the reader possible. With some help of the theatre of the absurd (Ionesco, Camus) and existencialism one should find out what Beckett tries to tell, depending on the read ... (continue)

    It doesn't matter who or what Godot really is. Fact is, that Godot will never appear and this makes almost all interpretations of the reader possible. With some help of the theatre of the absurd (Ionesco, Camus) and existencialism one should find out what Beckett tries to tell, depending on the reader and his input of what Godot could be.

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    Elle Driver said on Aug 22, 2010 | Add your feedback

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