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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Waiting for Godot
Verdict: Proving we exist (or not)
Newcastle upon Tyne - Northern Stage - 27-28 Oct 06 - 20.00 (2:30)
A tramp - Estragon (Mark Labrow) - examines his feet, and eventually manages to remove his boot. His companion Vladimir (Jez Arrow) remarks ‘Nothing to be done’, which sets the ground rules. Time passes slowly as the tramps look closely at boots and the insides of hats. Ritual exchanges between the two are gradual, with dry, knowing humour. An ‘Englishman in a brothel’ story is never completed.
They are interrupted by Lucky (James Drydan) - the submissive slave of Pozzo (Gordon Poad), an apparently well to do country gentlemen. Things change, or perhaps not: Lucky’s diatribe on philosophy is a circular argument that turns into gibberish. All the characters suggest their memories are faulty.
Estragon and Vladimir are ‘waiting for Godot’. An ethereal boy tells them Godot’s not coming. The second act reflects the first. Next day, same time, same place. Vladimir sings and sums up the plot:
A dog came in the kitchen
And stole a crust of bread.
The cook up with a ladle
And beat him till he was dead.
Then all the dogs came running
And dug the dog a tomb
And wrote upon the tombstone
For the eyes of dogs to come:
A dog came in the kitchen …
Waiting For Godot makes the most serious point – proving we exist (or not). Daniel Forth’s set is simple, and works. A child’s version of a tree, a place to sit and a circular cut-out in the black back wall suggest infinity and the world. Tramps Jez Arrow and Mark Labrow quickly engage attention for the journey to nowhere. Sometimes the comedy is too dry to be funny. Gordon Poad’s Pozzo is annoyingly loud, and a well-observed pastiche of country upper-class attitudes. James Drydan’s Lucky is unbelievably pathetic, and the focus of attention when he finally moves and speaks.
Input from children of Clavering Primary School and Brougham Primary School, Hartlepool blends seamlessly into the performance. Their involvement adds to the child-like world Vladimir and Estragon inhabit. Keegan Hurst’s Boy is other-worldly and scary in his clarity and directness.
Cast Credits: (alpha order): Jez Arrow - Vladimir (Didi). James Drydan - Lucky. Mark Labrow - Estragon (Gogo). Gordon Poad - Pozzo. Dean Rowcroft / Keegan Hurst - A Boy.
Company Credits: Writer - Samuel Beckett. Director - Gordon Poad. Lighting Designer / Set Designer - Daniel Forth. Company- Theatre Cap-a-Pie. Website - www.cap-a-pie.co.uk
END
(c) Peter Andrews 2006
reviewed Saturday 28 October 06 / Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
