About
A landmark new production of Samuel Beckett’s towering masterpiece WAITING FOR GODOT played at the historic Theatre Royal Haymarket from September to December 2024.
Lucian Msamati (Game of Thrones) and Ben Whishaw (Paddington ) starred alongside Tom Edden (Crazy For You) and Jonathan Slinger (title roles in Richard II and Richard III in RSC Histories), directed by multi award-winner James Macdonald (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Didi and Gogo wait by a tree for a man named Godot. They don’t know who he is, why they are meeting or what time he is coming – only that something incredible could happen when he does…
Witty and absurd, poignant and profound, WAITING FOR GODOT’s timeless take on what it means to be human makes it one of the defining works of the 20th century.
Education
An extensive Learning Guide is available to support this production, which is designed to enhance students’ exploration and understanding of the play.
The guide includes written and visual resources to help Drama, Theatre and Performing Arts students. It contains historical context on Beckett and Waiting for Godot, interviews with the cast and creative team, and prompts to inspire students’ own devising, performing and designing projects. The guide also provides extensive details to support students’ work on live production reviews.
Education material created by Susie Ferguson, in conjunction with the cast and creative team.
This Learning Guide wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of Access Entertainment.
Explore Our Videos
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DIRECTING WAITING FOR GODOT
Director James Macdonald in discussion with Associate Director Max Harrison.
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ESTRAGON AND VLADIMIR
Lucian Msamati (Estragon) and Ben Whishaw (Vladimir) talk about bringing their characters to life.
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DESIGNING WAITING FOR GODOT
Hear from Set & Costume Designer Rae Smith, Lighting Designer Bruno Poet and Sound Designer Niamh Gaffney as they discuss the process behind the design of the show.
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LUCKY AND POZZO
Tom Edden (Lucky) and Jonathan Slinger (Pozzo) discuss rehearsing for the show.
USEFUL LINKS
Further Reading
- BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time episode on Samuel Beckett
- The Guardian’s Godotmania article
- The Guardian’s The waiting is over! Have the times finally caught up with Godot? article
- The Guardian’s In Godot we trust article
- The Guardian’s Waiting for Godot taught me the difference between being smart and being intellectual article
- The Guardian’s Samuel Beckett story to be published 80 years after it was rejected article
- The Guardian’s ‘Angry boredom’: early responses to Waiting for Godot showcased online article
- British Library’s An introduction to Waiting for Godot
- CBS’s Buster Keaton, the ‘Great Stone Face’ documentary
- TED-ED’s Why you should read Waiting for Godot video
Reviews for the 2024 Production
- Evening Standard
- The Independent
- iNews
- The Observer
- The Stage
- The Telegraph
- Time Out
- The Times
- The Guardian
- WhatsOnStage
Production photography: Marc Brenner