Waiting for Godot Review: Matthew Kelly and George Costigan's Hilariously Bleak Duo
Samuel Beckett's modernist masterpiece, Waiting for Godot, often evokes the world of music hall comedy. The dueling routines of Vladimir and Estragon mirror the banter of old-time vaudeville acts, with a sequence of hat-swapping that could have come straight from Laurel and Hardy. This theme is echoed in Dominic Hill's staging, a co-production with the Liverpool Everyman and Bolton Octagon, but with a twist.
Set against a backdrop of a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape, Matthew Kelly (Estragon) and George Costigan (Vladimir) take center stage. Their world is a lost highway, with telegraph poles fading into the distance and a material landscape ripped and worn, revealing the walls of the theater. Central to the design is a charred, barren tree, tapering like an accusatory finger at the heavens. At its base lies the carcass of a truck, sometimes resembling a coffin under the dramatic lighting by Lizzie Powell. Even the safety curtain adds to the morbid atmosphere as it slowly rises.
In this world, life continues despite the end of history. Kelly, momentarily captivated by the tree's solitary leaf, suggests turning towards nature. The seasonal cycle persists, regardless of the worn-out material that fills each day. Costigan, the cheery one, asks the audience, 'What are we doing here?' with the house lights on. He tries to galvanize his partner, Kelly, who is morose and irritable, sore-footed and sleepless. Their northern English accents and wild grey beards perfectly capture the irascibility and interdependence of a couple who have lost track of time.
The production also features Gbolahan Obisesan as Pozzo, who intrudes into their desolation like a dream, commanding Michael Hodgson as the unlucky Lucky. The end times are portrayed as callous and cruel, but also hilariously bleak.
Waiting for Godot is currently playing at the Citizens theatre in Glasgow until March 14th, then at the Everyman theatre in Liverpool from March 17th to April 4th, and finally at the Octagon theatre in Bolton from April 15th to May 2nd.
