Waiting for Godot - Stanspage

Nothing Happened – but Everything Did

Theatre Review

By Marcus Bower

Regarded as “the most significant English language play of the 20^th century”, Stan Gottschalk’s much anticipated production of Waiting for Godot opened successfully at the Earl Arts Centre on Wednesday night.

Subtitled a tragicomedy in two acts, Samuel Beckett’s critically acclaimed work challenged and entertained the large and appreciative opening night audience in equal measure. Given that there is no linear narrative as such, the script can and has been interpreted on a number of philosophical platforms; however, if Waiting for Godot is some theatrical enigma wrapped in a dramatic puzzle, then Gottschalk and company went a very long way in unravelling the marvellous mystery that is this play.

Essentially two characters, Estragon and Vladimir wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. As the chief protagonists, Jeff Hockley and Michael Edgar worked the script with flair and feeling. Their timing and interplay were wonderful to witness as Hockley’s comedic skills bounced off the more austere Edgar in what appeared to be a vaudevillian homage to Laurel and Hardy. The clown and the tormented thinker reflected in so many ways Beckett’s belief that life was an endless mix of laughter and pain that we all had to endure...

Into this existential world strode Kendan Lovell as the deliciously despotic Pozzo and his much put upon servant Lucky, played with a deft touch by the multi-talented Chris Jackson. Their arrival and departure rattled the dramatic cage and added yet another dimension to this powerful piece of theatre. Billy Cure as The Boy completed the talented ensemble.

Randall Lindstrom’s striking minimalistic set gave the play a marvellous theatrical platform while the atmospheric lighting design added significantly to the play as a whole.

Stan Gottschalk’s Waiting for Godot was an intelligent, provocative and ultimately rewarding dissection of the human condition where nothing happened-but everything did. It is a significant addition to Three River Theatre’s enviable body of work and should not be missed. It continues at The Earl Arts Centre until October the 22^nd so don’t wait –book a seat now!

Welman Street Film Society

List of Films

Title	Director	Country
1. The Last Picture Show	Peter Bogdanovich	USA
2. In the Heat of the Night	Norman Jewison	USA
3. Padre Padrone	Taviani Bros.	Italy
4.Lawrence of Arabia	David Lean	UK/USA
5. La Strada	Federico Fellini	Italy
6. La Regle Du Jeu	Jean Renoir	France
7. Amarcord	Federico Fellini	Italy
8. Psycho	Alfred Hitchcock	USA
9. The Passenger	Michelangelo Antonioni	Italy
10. The Seven Samurai	Akira Kurosawa	Japan
11. My Man Godfrey	Gregory LaCava	USA
12. Room at the Top	Jack Clayton	UK
13. Blazing Saddles	Mel Brooks	USA
14. Wings of Desire	Wim Wenders	Germany/France
15. Nashville	Robert Altman	USA
16. Double Indemnity	Billy Wilder	USA
17. The Conformist	Bernardo Bertolucci	Italy
18. King of Hearts	Philippe de Broca	France
19.M. Hulot’s Holiday	Jacques Tati	France
20. Grande Illusion	Jean Renoir	France
21.All About Eve	Joseph Mankiewicz	USA
22.Paths of Glory	Stanley Kubrick	USA
23.Rashomon	Akira Kurosawa	Japan
24.The Trial	Orson Welles	France
25.Network	Sidney Lumet	USA

*First Welman St Film Festival*	*Director Theme - France*
26. Le Corbeau	Henri-Georges Clouzot	France
27. Wages of Fear	Henri-Georges Clouzot	France
28. Les Diaboliques	Henri-Georges Clouzot	France

29. Eye of the Needle	Richard Marquand	UK
30.Breathless	Jean Luc Goddard	France
31.The Bedford Incident	James B. Harris	USA
32.Tabu	Miguel Gomes	Portugal
33. Through a Glass Darkly	Ingmar Bergman	Sweden


*Second Welman St Film Festival*	*National Theme - Italy*
34. Journey in Italy	Roberto Rosselini	Italy
35. Il Divo	Paolo Sorrentino	Italy
36. Marriage Italian Style	Vittorio de Sica	Italy

37. North By Northwest	Alfred Hitchcock	USA

*Third Welman St Film Festival*	*Genre Theme- International Heist/Caper Films of the 1950s*
38. The Killing	Stanley Kubrick	USA
39. The Lavender Hill Mob	Charles Crichton	UK
40. Rififi	Jules Dassin	France
41. Big Deal on Madonna Street	Mario Monicelli	Italy

42. Death in Venice	Luchino Visconti	Italy
43. Don't Look Now	Nicholas Roeg	UK/Italy
44. The Roundup	Miklos Janczo	Hungary
45. Bringing Up Baby	Howard Hawks	USA
46. Tender Mercies	Bruce Beresford	USA
47. Lilies of the Field	Ralph Nelson	USA
48. A Man Escaped	Robert Bresson	France
49. Shane	George Stevens	USA
50. The Angels' Share	Ken Loach	UK
51. A Touch of Evil	Orson Welles	USA
52. Ivan's Childhood	Andrei Tarkovsky	Russia
53. Room	Lenny Abrahamson	Canada
54. Tokyo Story	Yasujirō Ozu	Japan
55. Witness for the Prosecution	Billy Wilder	USA
56. Andrei Rublev	Andrei Tarkovsky	Russia
57. Broken Circle Breakdown	Felix Van Groeningen	Belgium
58. Locke	Steven Knight	UK
59. Silent Wedding	Horatiu Malaele	Romania
60. Annie Hall	Woody Allen	USA
61. Anatomy of a Murder	Otto Preminger	USA
62. The Olive Tree	Iciar Bollain	Spain
63. Places in the Heart	Robert Benton	USA
64. Walkabout	Nicolas Roeg	Australia
65. The Hustler	Robert Rossen	USA
66. Elektra	Michael Cacoyannis	Greece
67. Gaslight	George Cukor	USA
68. The Power of the Dog	Jane Campion	New Zealand
69. Sunset Boulevard	Billy Wilder	USA
70. Burn	Gillo Pontecorvo	Italy
71. Dean Spanley	Toa Fraser	UK/NZ
72. In a Lonely Place	Nicholas Ray	USA
73. Sweet Smell of Success	Alexander Mackendrick	USA
74. Cinema Paradiso	Giuseppe Tornatore	Italy

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