Waiting for Godot

“We always find something, eh Didi, to give us the impression we exist?”

In Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett explores cycles, life, death, and change. This has instantly become one of my favourite plays and - having read through it - I’d love to see it performed.

Waiting for Godot follows two friends - Vladamir and Estragon (Didi and Gogo) - wasting time as they wait for the mysterious Godot. It’s unclear why they have to wait for him, and there’s some confusion over if they’ve met him before, or even what he might look like.

In Act 1 they discuss warn-out boots, vegetables, and hanging themselves from a nearby tree. They also meet Pozzo and his mistreated servant Lucky, whom his master punishes for any slowness. At the end of the act, a boy arrives to tell the original pair that Godot will not come today.

Act 2 is cyclical. We see Didi and Gogo again, waiting for Godot. Same boots, same conversation about vegetables. But this time there are leaves on the tree. And Didi - at least - seems to remember them being here yesterday, waiting again. Pozzo and Lucky return, also changed. Pozzo is now blind and helpless, and Lucky mute. Again they discuss suicide, again they wait in vain for Godot.

I really liked that in the second act, Beckett presents inconsistencies in the characters’ memories and lived experience. Didi remembers yesterday, Gogo doesn’t. The place and characters have changed now. Could it really be the very next day, or is Didi wrong and actually it’s been a longer time? Long enough for seasons to change, or for Pozzo to get into an accident and become blinded. The untrustworthiness of the story told only through these characters is a great device.

Gogo often wants to split from the pair, supposing they might be better on their own, but also expresses a need for Didi and for comfort. This made me wonder if they actually are two people or symbolism for the same person, at war with themselves about their inconsistent memories and feelings, but ultimately engaged in the meandering cycle of life.

Waiting for Godot is quick, witty, solemn, melancholic and thoughtful and I will definitely be returning to it.