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Theatre Journal 53.4 (2001) 653-655



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Performance Review

Waiting for Godot


Waiting for Godot. By Samuel Beckett. Lensoviet Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia. 8 May 2001.

Waiting for Godot at the Lensoviet Theater, one of St. Petersburg's most popular theatres, is a remarkable production. Not surprisingly, it received Russia's prestigious Golden Mask awards ("Best Show" and "Best Work by a Director") for the 1997-98 season. I was impressed by the creativity and effectiveness of the staging and by the masterful performance of the actors.

When the play began and the lights were brought up, I realized that the bleacher-type seats in what appeared to be a small theatre were actually located on the upstage portion of the stage in the main theatre. The actors' playing area, an enormous circular onstage platform, was between the audience and the auditorium, so that spectators faced the empty seats. This was the first of a number of departures from a conventional approach and the surprise contributed to the stimulating effect of the production.

Designer Aleksandr Shishkin's set reflected the circularity of the play. A piece of white, lightweight cloth that looks like a large parachute covered the acting platform. Suspended above the platform was a circular disk with a round opening in it. A noose hung from the darkness above, down through the opening. This was the image that greeted the spectators as they found their seats: a noose hanging over a parachute and a dark void beyond. Death, flight, and nothingness? When the lights went out and the play began, a tiny spot of light appeared as the actors began to speak. They carried a long, angular object wrapped in parachute-like fabric, but when it was uncovered, it was a "tree." It resembled the wire armature of a piece of sculpture, covered in places with leather "bark." The "branches" were metal bars protruding at irregular intervals that served as a ladder for Estragon to climb at one point in the play. The "tree" also had a waterspout and an electric light that functioned. At the start of the play, Estragon and Vladimir circled the stage a number of times while carrying the wrapped tree and then finally attached it to the noose hanging from above. It remained suspended for the rest of the show, although at various points Vladimir attached the base to a hook on a rope and raised the tree overhead. In the center of the circular platform was a round opening, not visible at the beginning of the play because of the parachute covering it. But shortly before Pozzo first appeared, the parachute vanished down the hole, heralding an unexpected development. Pozzo and Lucky entered and exited through this hole. Objects were thrown both into and out of the hole. The actors sometimes sat on its rim dangling their legs into it, and Vladimir and Estragon peered down into it as well.

Director Yuri Butusov employed a wide range of devices to underscore the play's statement about an absurd world. He used sound effects, lighting shifts, vaudeville routines, clowning, mime, bawdy humor, and pathos. At the opening, he set a tone of manic gaiety with a loud, lively piece of recorded music that played while Vladimir and Estragon first circled the stage, the tune recurring when a change of time or scene occured. This music formed a contrast with the situation in which Vladimir and Estragon are trapped. The actors whistled, sang, and made insect sounds. They squabbled and struck one another in slapstick fashion; they conducted the hat-switching sequence like a juggling act; they picked Pozzo's pockets in Marx Brothers style; and Pozzo mimed shooting Lucky, Vladimir, and Estragon, who in turn mimed falling over dead. Early in the show, Vladimir and Estragon disappeared over the edge of the circular platform to relieve themselves. Only their heads and shoulders were visible, but their gestures indicated what was happening. When they later talked about hanging themselves, their intonation and the softening of the lights conveyed the pathos of their predicament. A particularly effective directorial choice had to...

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