Prescott Valley Performing Arts is set to stage Samuel Beckett's renowned play Waiting for Godot in the Main Street Theatre. This production continues PVPA’s effort to bring diverse theatrical works to our community.
First published in 1952, Godot is a seminal work in the Theatre of the Absurd movement. The play follows two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, as they wait by a solitary tree for the elusive Godot, who never arrives. In their interactions with each other and with passersby Pozzo and his servant Lucky, their conversations dip into themes of existentialism, the passage of time, and the search for meaning in an uncertain world. The play’s cyclical structure and minimalist setting have made it a subject of extensive analysis and interpretation.
The Theatre of the Absurd is a mid-20th-century dramatic movement that challenges conventional theatrical norms to explore the meaningless of human existence, and lack of it. It is often marked by irrational dialogue, surreal scenarios and an absence of coherent plot or character development. As a result, the audience is often left with more questions than answers, and Director Clay Smith wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I would like this play to be what they talk about for the next several days with their family and friends that were here with them. I’d like them to figure out what it means for themselves and to try to convince the people around them they’re right. I’d like them to be able to debate and argue, and maybe even realize that there is no answer.”
“Some people certainly believe that there are as many different explanations of what God is as there are productions of Godot. Beckett famously said if he knew what Godot was, he would have put it in the play. So whether or not Godot represents God or death or some kind of meaning or something is an open question, and I think it always will be.”
Over the years Waiting for Godot has garnered critical acclaim and many accolades. Notably, a 2009 Broadway revival featuring Nathan Lane and John Goodman won three Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Play. In 2012 a production at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles won five Ovation Awards, among them Best Production of a Play by a Large Theatre. Additionally, in 1999 the play was voted the “most significant English-language play of the 20th century” in a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre.
The PVPA presentation offers Prescott Valley audiences an opportunity to experience this classic play firsthand. The Main Street Theatre, the company’s dedicated performance space since 2022, provides an intimate setting that enhances the play’s exploration of human resilience and hope amid uncertainty. This production features some amazing local actors, with a range of experience and familiarity with the play. From having a passionate desire to bring this to stage to never having heard of the show, these actors will follow in some very famous footsteps, including those of Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Albert Hendeaux and Porter Blakely will take the lead roles of Vladamir and Estragon, with support from J. D’Armand, E. Schaible, and K. Kennedy.
Smith has a personal reason for selecting this particular play. “I’ve been vaguely obsessed with this show since I was in college. I’ve never actually seen it on stage, but I’ve read it several times and there’s something about how you know nothing happens in it and the idea that it’s so funny, despite the fact that it doesn’t have any of the trappings of comedy, it doesn’t have a funny situation, you know. In fact, all the situations are fairly tragic. It doesn’t have funny characters. It just … it's funny. I still don't know that I understand how Beckett managed to pull that off, but it is one of the great accomplishments of literature, I believe.”
Waiting for Godot will play in the Main Street Theatre on Saturdays and Sundays April 5-13.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the PVPA website (PVPerformingArts.org) or contact the box office at 928-515-2944.
