Mercury’s Wing’s production of Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett) was partially successful in its creation of dramatic meaning for a contemporary Gen-Y audience. The dramatic languages of performance skill, production elements and design were manipulated to form dramatic impact, although the play failed to realise its true potential without real substance.
Waiting for Godot entails two dysfunctional men who encounter others along the road as they wait forever and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon fill their idle hours with a series of mundane acts and trivial conversations (with religious overtones) as the world of the play operates on nothingness.
The production challenges the impatience and intolerance …show more content…
For instance, Lucky, when asked to “think”, shuffled and spoke hundreds of incoherent words per minute, until, by extension of this condition, was mute in the final act. Pozzo condescendingly regarded the other characters as inferior beings and commanded others to obey. From a position of authority and force, Pozzo becomes blind and is pathetically dragged along by Lucky; the rope is shortened, bringing him and his antithesis closer. The fallen Pozzo maintains that time is irrelevant and that man’s existence is meaningless: “They give birth astride of the grave, the light gleams an instant, then its night once more.” Godot retains the highest status over the entire production, pulling the strings from behind the curtain and controlling character relations.
The actors achieved absurd, especially as the endless exchanges of conversation and familiarity of sequences were all cause for resignation. The elements of performance brought levels of dramatic meaning to Godot’s otherwise meaningless …show more content…
The confined space left the characters with nowhere to progress the plot- becoming vulnerable, exposed and isolated- and the open stage allowed the entry and exit of the five characters.
The transition from Act I to Act II brought changes in the characters and stage where the situation became worse, to the extent the audience expects everything to eventually spiral out of control. The characters respectively become blind, mute and mentally deranged while a seasonal transition occurs, represented by a lone tree. This creates a sense of confusion where it is unknown whether the future events occur the next day, week or even year.
The costumes and aesthetics of the characters allude to an Australian themed set where Estragon and Vladimir were miners in the wilderness. This interpretation is especially reinforced through Gogo’s boots, the red dirt and the exchange of hard-hats- which symbolise routine and a spiritual connectivity to the
Waiting for Godot entails two dysfunctional men who encounter others along the road as they wait forever and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon fill their idle hours with a series of mundane acts and trivial conversations (with religious overtones) as the world of the play operates on nothingness.
The production challenges the impatience and intolerance …show more content…
For instance, Lucky, when asked to “think”, shuffled and spoke hundreds of incoherent words per minute, until, by extension of this condition, was mute in the final act. Pozzo condescendingly regarded the other characters as inferior beings and commanded others to obey. From a position of authority and force, Pozzo becomes blind and is pathetically dragged along by Lucky; the rope is shortened, bringing him and his antithesis closer. The fallen Pozzo maintains that time is irrelevant and that man’s existence is meaningless: “They give birth astride of the grave, the light gleams an instant, then its night once more.” Godot retains the highest status over the entire production, pulling the strings from behind the curtain and controlling character relations.
The actors achieved absurd, especially as the endless exchanges of conversation and familiarity of sequences were all cause for resignation. The elements of performance brought levels of dramatic meaning to Godot’s otherwise meaningless …show more content…
The confined space left the characters with nowhere to progress the plot- becoming vulnerable, exposed and isolated- and the open stage allowed the entry and exit of the five characters.
The transition from Act I to Act II brought changes in the characters and stage where the situation became worse, to the extent the audience expects everything to eventually spiral out of control. The characters respectively become blind, mute and mentally deranged while a seasonal transition occurs, represented by a lone tree. This creates a sense of confusion where it is unknown whether the future events occur the next day, week or even year.
The costumes and aesthetics of the characters allude to an Australian themed set where Estragon and Vladimir were miners in the wilderness. This interpretation is especially reinforced through Gogo’s boots, the red dirt and the exchange of hard-hats- which symbolise routine and a spiritual connectivity to the