h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 'Waiting for Godot' - the play - A954669
Author: Gnomon - U151503

A well-known play which I saw for the first time last Friday.

Excellent (the play and the Entry!) 'Godot' is one of the few Beckett works (IMHO) that plays as well as it reads

Just a thought, and it's a bit cliched, but you could quote Estragon's line from Act I that seems to be almost a description of the whole play:

"Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!"

Danny B.

How 'bout a link to A778179 Samuel Beckett's 'Ping'

I've added Danny's quote and a link to Ping.

Hi Gnomon,

Excellent - as all of your entries are!

I have only heard the full play once, on CBC radio.

I may have misunderstood, but I didn't think Pozzo became blind between acts I and II: I thought he had always been blind, but that it was only revealed to the listener in act II.

Awu.
P.S. I think I must have seen part of the play on TV, with, of all people, Max Wall as one of the characters. (A quick Google for Max Wall Godot confirmed that. 1980)

Pozzo is definitely able to see in Act 1. He examines the two tramps through his glasses.

That's the problem with a radio play (And my lack of attention maybe).

Awu

Excellent article. Who was it who described it as 'the play where nothing happens, twice'? Ah, it was Vivian Mercer: http://www.colorado.edu/TheatreDance/OldSite/0001/godot/godotmain.html

I think it might be worth mentioning the allusion to Simone Weil's 'Waiting for God', which was published just a couple of years before 'Godot' appeared. Although both these works first appeared in French, and Weil would have been a hot discussion topic in Beckett's circle, Beckett's pun of course only came to light in translation. I find that an interesting sidelight on how his mind worked.

THanks, Bels. I don't really want to get into that discussion, because there are lots of different theories and they are inconclusive. Beckett wrote the play in 1948-49. Weill's work was published in 1951, after Beckett had written En Attendant Godot, but before it was first performed. I don't know whether his play bore that title at the time or whether he chose the title after hearing of Weill's work. There's also the theory about Godeau a persistent Tour de France cyclist, but whichever theory you accept, it almost definite that the Godot/God correspondance was intentional.

I've added a line at the very end giving the most famous review of the play. Thanks, Autist, for that.

Am I an autist now???

Sorry, FM, I somehow missed your comment, then the Autist formerly known as Flinch made the same comment elsewhere. But thanks to you, too!

I'm *shocked* that this is still waiting for a Scout...


- Jimi X

Thanks, Jimi. I've been waiting ... but I refuse to bump it. If it's good, it'll be picked eventually.

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

And there you go.

It wasn't me...
...honestly!

Yay! Worth the waiting!

Jimi X must be psychic, if you ask me...