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Program Notes:

From the producer: In a millenial poll conducted by London's Royal National Theatre, Beckett's masterwork was voted Most Significant Play of the 20th Century. First performed in 1953, it redefined dramatic boundaries for the artform and its audience, changing them both forever. From the great plays of Pinter, Albee and Stoppard to most contemporary playwrights, Godot's inspiration and influence can be clearly discerned. Indeed, in form and content, Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a total Godot homage. Today, Beckett's contemplation on the nature and point of human existence seems startlingly modern and richly comedic. Many meeting the play for the first time will be surprised by its humour: boisterous, wicked and absent of 'holiness'. Because he writes for actors with a profound understanding of their processes and a love for their theatrical milieu, Beckett provides a solid literary foundation while allowing space for interpretation. This is the hallmark of a classic that affirms Godot's place in theatre's history and assures its place in theatre's future.

Simon Prast