Waiting for Godot - Theatre Royal Haymarket

Also there tonight. Dean Graham was on as Lucky, I assume for the first time as they pulled him forward in the bows.

 My last double show day of my holiday kicked off with an afternoon visit to the TRH. WFG had always been on my need to see list (having never either studied it or seen it on stage) so when this production got announced it got booked early one with a ticket up in the gods due to the pricing structure at the time. Thankfully with dynamic pricing kicking in, I’m glad I got a rear stalls seat upgrade for £10 more to make the visit that much more comfortable. Watching it I found lots to like about it but I certainly didn’t come away thinking it was a classic production or if it was an open ended run to rebook.

With all four main guys on at the performance, I certainly found them all entertaining and watchable. Act 1 only really got going when Eden and Slinger appeared to thankfully add some much needed adrenaline and humour to the piece which up to then really seemed slow paced and I definitely felt it dragged up to this point. Eden’s manic speech in Act 1 was certainly a scene stealing moment and a definite highlight. Act 2 seemed much better paced with Whishaw and Msamti hitting their strides with the comedy much better and i found it better paced as a result. The Eden / Slinger pairing was for me the much stronger pairing than the Whishaw / Masamati. 

As for the text, well I’m probably no better off knowing what Beckett was aiming for in his writing at the end of the play than I was when I first took my seat. It all seemed just completely random, though it was the four guy’s delivery of it that made it interesting and engaging to listen to. I did enjoy the absurdity of it all and the completely randomness of the piece.

It was a nice set from Rae Smith and lighting design from Bruno Poet. 

Having now seen it, it be interesting to watch other staged versions just as a comparison to see how this one compares to those. 

Rating - 3 ⭐️

First time ever seeing this play tonight so didn’t really know what to expect but I enjoyed it a lot. Thought the cast were all very well suited to their roles but Ben Whishaw was truly excellent. My £25 front row stalls seat was a bargain, great view and loads of legroom.

Yep. These are, in a great way for life, but a bad way for this show, two very cerebral actors.  And as much as this play needs those, it also requires a level of “entertainer” within its performers, which Ben & Lucien just don’t have.

Bring on Bill & Ted next year on B’way.

Saw this about 2/3 weeks ago with some friends. I pretty much got what I expected from a production of 'Godot', but carried by incredibly strong acting from the cast. Whishaw was a lot better than I thought he'd be and I expected Msamati to also be strong in the role too. Both Tom Edden and Jonathan Slinger did their jobs accordingly and how I would've imagined Lucky and Pozzo to be played.

Going in, I wasn't sure about the use of more 'modern' clothing for Vladimir and Estragon, probably because I'm used to the traditional 'tramp' look. But then again, Beckett never really specified what they would be wearing, except for the bowler hats, that neither of them wear. I do think it was a bit of a missed opportunity to not have Pozzo and Lucky leave their hats behind, only for Gogo and Didi to wear them for the rest of the show.

One thing I found very interesting, and I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed, but whenever Didi reffered to Estragon as "Gogo", he would pronounce it the same way as "Godot" is pronounced in the UK, making it almost sound like Vladimir is referring to him as "Godot".

Overall, very solid produciton. I wish I had more to say, but catch it if you can before the 21st Dec.