We already know the ending: Godot never shows up. We also know that Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, has been confounding audiences and reviewers ever since it was first performed on Broadway in 1956. (The legendary theater reviewer for the New York Times, Brooks Atkinson, coined an oft-quoted line when he described the play as “a mystery wrapped in an enigma”).

With each production, the suspense comes from finding out whether the cast is worthy of the material. With a sparse set, a plot that seems simplistic (although it’s not), and dialogue that seems to meander all over (much as the characters do), even actors who have mastered Shakespeare might be excused if they can’t pull off this acting feat. Add to the mix that casting usually results in luring well-known (read TV and film) names to star. (Past productions have starred Robin Williams and Steve Martin). The current Godot, opening on April 30, teams up two stage veterans (Bill Irwin and John Glover) one TV and film star (John Goodman), and one who has excelled wherever he has gone (Nathan Lane).

Well, the suspense is over. It’s fair to say there isn’t a weak link in this chain. Even when struggling to remove a boot, Lane as Estragon exhibits the despair for his existence where all he can do is “hold the terrible silence at bay.” Even shaking out his boot produces nothing, “nothing to be done,” he mutters. Irwin, who, in the earlier production with Martin, played the slave, Lucky, is brilliant in his portrayal, of Vladimir, who never flags in his determination to wait for the elusive Godot. Irwin twitches and obsesses without making these mannerisms seem forced.

The big surprise in this production is John Goodman, who manages to leave behind his TV persona as Roseanne’s husband, as well as many of his comical movie roles, grabbing on with gusto to his role as Pozzo, the abusive master who lives to make life miserable for Lucky, but, at the same time can’t seem to live without his servant. Goodman is a large presence on the stage and so his character seems even more threatening. As Lucky, Glover is kept on a leash by his master and suffers his abuse. Yet in the second act, when Pozzo appears to have lost his sight, Lucky, through loyalty or habit, sticks with his master.

Will this production answer any of the questions about what Waiting for Godot really means? Does Godot really stand for God? Are the characters waiting for redemption? We don’t know. What we do know is that this Roundabout Theatre presentation has added to the legacy of Beckett’s masterpiece. We don’t have all the answers, but perhaps that wasn’t Beckett’s intention. (The play has been analyzed from many viewpoints—Freudian, Jungian, Existential, and Biblical). In the final analysis, however, the only viewpoint that matters is your own.

Waiting for Godot
Roundabout Theatre Production
Studio 54
254 West 54th Street (between Broadway and Eighth Avenue)