“What do we do now, now that we are happy?” Estragon’s demand of his fellow tramp, Vladimir, is especially pertinent to Sean Mathias’ production of Waiting for Godot, in which comic timing, vaudevillian double-acts and slapstick sound effects bring out the latent black humour in Beckett’s masterpiece.
This does not undermine the essential bleakness, the tragic absurdity that underlies Beckett’s vision. Rather, it makes the scenes of despair all the more poignant. Ian McKellan’s shuffling dances and broad innuendo are acts of defiance from a man who has already decided that they “cannot go on like this”. But of course they go on; they have no choice.
The most powerful moments are when the audience catch themselves laughing at a joke that has long ceased to be funny, becoming complicit in the characters’ plight. Mathias utilises the humourous aspects of the play to remind his audience that laughter is not always borne out of happiness.
4 stars
Photo credit – Premier PR
