WORDS: Heather Keane

 Something has been niggling at the edge of Beckett plays recently. When one thinks of his absurdist works, words like ‘nothingness’, ‘existentialism’, perhaps ‘impenetrable’ might spring to mind. Recent whispers have been more along the lines of ‘accessible,’ even – could you imagine – ‘funny’! Some are holding on to the solemnity usually reserved for the Nobel Prize winner- see Pan Pan’s renditions of the radio plays which tend to leave one emotionally drained – and a giggle is still exchanged among scholars when mention is made of the 1956 Miami production which billed the play as ‘The Laugh Sensation of Two Continents’. But Gare St Lazare Players’ new production bursts right through the academic dam surrounding Beckett to let loose a real Irish comedy that flows through their performance of Waiting For Godot.

Stepping into The Gaeity rather than Beckett’s traditional home in The Gate alerts you to an environment more lighthearted than what may be expected; popcorn machines and ice cream vendors greet you as you prepare for two acts of nothing. Lovett and Lydon as Didi and Gogo allow no time for rest – every joke from the text is extracted and presented in its most opportune delivery, resulting in a laugh-a-minute eruption from the audience. The pair bond on stage as believable best friends; equally, Lovett might be your geography teacher treating Lydon as the favoured student who is slipping away from A1 status. The eccentricity often brought out in Didi is here swapped for familiarity, which makes a bigger allowance for empathy from the audience as the show goes on. A more naturally Irish contemporary performance of Didi and Gogo is inconceivable, bickering like two bachelors down the pub.

For those who might grimace at the thought of Waiting For Godot slipping into pantomime territory, fear not, beauty is never given up for the emphasis on the humour. The stage, a round platform splashed in grey and white, is confirmed as a lunar reflection when night falls and the back wall lights up with a full moon. Didi and Gogo are men on the moon. Ferdia Murphy has represented the tree they are to wait beside by hanging willow branches from the ceiling, these appear only in silhouette when lights are lowered and create a really spectacular vision. The grandeur of the set design surrounds the play in a grace that the comedy, if left alone, could have threatened.

All performances are stellar, O’Herlihy’s false American accent may seem jarring at first compared to the grumbling brogues of Didi and Gogo, but once you get a sense of Pozzo’s character and his obsession with performance, this is abated. Tadgh Murphy’s frantic shuffle and subhuman behaviour warm him up to steal the show when it’s time for Lucky’s speech, which smacks the giggling crowd in the face with agitated mutterings of ‘divine aphasia’ before they’re sent doubling over with laughter as he collapses from the removal of his hat. Didi bubbles with restlessness while Gogo becomes more the curmudgeon throughout Act Two and these opposing forces unite at the close to shush the crowd into a quiet pity. Their final rejection stops the joking as the magnitude of their destitution sinks in. Gare St Lazare have harnessed the comedy in Waiting For Godot to swing the despair into full height when they think the time is right, which will leave both newcomers and Beckett scholars satisfied and refreshed.

Waiting For Godot runs until October 6 in The Gaeity as part of Dublin Theatre Festival.