Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1952)

Two men talking while waiting on a road near a tree.

Play Review: Waiting for Godot is a play that the viewer is compelled to interpret. What does it mean? Who is Godot? Why do Vladimir and Estragon live as they do? What are Pozzo and Lucky's roles? Why does Pozzo go blind? Why is it so funny? Where does the symbolism begin, and end? Because everything is this play seems symbolic. Not a word is spoken or a boot removed that doesn't seem like a symbol of something. But what? Since this is known as an existentialist work, I suppose it's safe to say the play is about humanity's search for meaning, while at the same time we're scrutinizing the play for meaning. What could be more existentialist than that? But what if the viewers sit back, perhaps with cups of espresso, and just watch Waiting for Godot on its own terms, for our own enjoyment, just accept it for what it is, and don't try to probe it for meaning or allegory. That actually seems a little more existential to me. But I may be (to paraphrase Roxane Gay) a bad existentialist. Because I want to interpret this, it's fun: is Pozzo Capitalism incarnate and are the proletariat the ironically named Lucky? "Godot" sounds like "god-oh." Is he God? Is Godot an inversion of "doggo," meaning concealed or hidden? What if Godot is a woman? Is Godot actually Beckett (Godot has agents, "critic" is the worst insult of all, he does nothing (clearly an author), and has Gogo's and Didi's future in his hands)? A play of two men trying to find something to give them the impression they exist, trying to find ways to live a meaningless, pointless, purposeless, absurd existence. Trying to deal with nothing, waiting, repetition. They consider many methods, including suicide. They're Sisyphus split in two and dressed in music hall costumes. Nothing lasts, nothing is sustained, in the end nothing changes. Somehow they believe Godot will save them, but we know he'll never arrive. They want to do something while they have the chance (after all, it's not every day that they're needed). The whole play is an existential crisis on a minimalist set. While enjoyable on the page, viewing the Irish version on YT helped, too. In the end I think Waiting for Godot is a play the viewer can profitably analyze endlessly, or just sit back and simply enjoy for its comic absurdity. A work of genius.  [5★]