Broadway Reviews Theatre Review by Howard Miller - September 28, 2025 Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Directed by Jamie Lloyd. Scenic and costume design by Soutra Gilmour. Lighting design by Jon Clark. Sound design by Ben and Max Ringham Hair and makeup by Cheryl Thomas. Associate director Conner Wilson.
While there is no definitive way to approach the text, productions generally strive to find the right pair of actors to portray the two tramp-like characters at the core of the play, Estragon (aka "Gogo") and Vladimir (aka "Didi"). Some of the well-known combos who have taken on these roles include Bert Lahr and E. G. Marshall, Robin Williams and Steve Martin, Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, and Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Big names sell tickets, of course, and so it is with this rendition, which stars Alex Winter as Vladimir and his rather more famous real-life pal Keanu Reeves as Estragon. The heroes of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure return! Godot pretty much demands that there be a palpable chemistry between its leads, a joined-at-the-hip Laurel-and-Hardy sort of relationship. And this does seem to be the case here, as Winter and Reeves play things out like an old married couple: sometimes quarrelsome, sometimes embracing, and seldom apart. What they lack, however, is the ability to capture a classic music-hall comic performance style that, if not vital, helps balance out the play's philosophic and religious tone, which suggests an eternal wait for deliverance or at least a surcease from some sort of post-apocalyptic existence.
If Winter and Reeves express themselves as a more dour, less comedic couple than is typical, the opposite can be said of Brandon J. Dirden as Pozzo, the wealthy, imperious, and boisterous wanderer, and his (in this case, wheelchair-bound) servant Lucky (Michael Patrick Thornton). These two certainly liven things up on the occasion of their two visits, once in each of the play's two acts. Dirden's Pozzo comes off as a caricature of a Southern plantation owner, whose day-to-day needs are met by the savant Lucky, keeper of a famously garbled rendition of a rambling pseudophilosophic speech, which bursts out of him upon the command to "think." The wheelchair is both a directorial decision and a necessary accommodation for the actor, though it deprives us of the disconcerting sight of Lucky being led about by means of a length of rope tied around his neck. Rounding out the cast is the young actor playing the role of Godot's messenger. At the performance I attended, Zaynn Arora (who alternates with Eric Williams) did a splendid job of conveying the character's timid choirboy-like demeanor. He also delivers my favorite line in the play. When asked by Didi, "what does he do, Mr. Godot?" the boy hesitates, then replies: "He does nothing, Sir." (So much for the assumption that Godot is God). Apart from the performances, it is the stage design that is sure to grab your attention. A tree that usually serves as the focal point for performances of the play is referenced by Didi and Gogo, but not seen by us. Instead, the action takes place within and on the edge of what appears to be a massive drain outlet (designed by Soutra Gilmour, who also created the costumes) that might be left over from an abandoned dam or reservoir. It's actually quite impressive, as are Jon Clark's lighting and Ben and Max Ringham's evocative sound design. If the production itself presents as less than a defining moment in Godot history, it does give audiences a chance to see this famously mystifying play along with the opportunity for a live-and-in-person encounter with a big-time movie star.
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