One of the towering dramas of the twentieth century, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) has been described by critic Richard Watts as a “moving, often funny, grotesquely beautiful and utterly absorbing” play. Beckett’s story of two dilapidated bums waiting for the salvation of Godot has powerfully influenced the development of the modern theater and is undoubtedly the finest example of the plays of the Theater of the Absurd. As the two bums wait, a boy comes every day with the announcement that Godot’s arrival is imminent.But the unseen Godot never arrives, leaving the two bums to pass their time, “which would have passed anyway,” occupying themselves with meaningless rituals… and waiting. The play is a brilliant and bitter meditation, a dogged portrait of the resilience of man’s spirit in the face of little hope.
This page is part of an ongoing project to document the history of the theatre productions performed at Wabash College. If you have information not included on this page, please contact the Theater Department or Professor Dwight Watson (watsond@wabash.edu).
