This summer, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot will be staged at Smock Alley. Since it was first performed in 1953, the play has rarely been offstage – indeed, the Abbey showcased its production in 2017, and the play graced Smock Alley’s stage in 2014. Apart from Shakespeare’s oeuvre, this tragicomedy is perhaps the work of theatre which has most indelibly entered popular culture. TN2 Deputy Editor Amyrose Forder spoke to Director Patrick Sutton about his choice in adapting such a well-loved masterpiece.  

TN2: Of all Beckett’s plays, why Waiting For Godot?

Patrick Sutton: Waiting, waiting, waiting. I’ve been inspired by this play since my college days and played the part of Estragon many moons ago back in the 90s. Waiting is an activity that humanity can’t seem to ever escape from. The mundane can become significant, or perhaps not.

 

What will Smock Alley’s intimate staging bring to the production? 

PS: Smock Alley Theatre 1662 will draw the audience into the lives of the characters with seating on three sides, giving total exposure at all times.

 

Does directing such a well-known play bring its own challenges, or do you find it offers more creative potential? 

PS: Directing such a well-known play offers more creative potential because when the text is so well known it’s a nuance of difference that brings a freshness to it, and sometimes this means thinking outside the box and pushing everything to the last. 

 

Do you consider the play to be tragic, or a comic? 

PS: I consider the play to be part comic and part tragic, tragic, tragic. The comedy needs to be found and highlighted by the production in order to lighten the very obvious tragedy in each character.

 

TN2: What are you most excited for in Smock Alley’s future? 

I am most excited for Smock Alley’s future to see beautiful stories told with distinction

 

Waiting For Godot will run at Smock Alley Theatre from 23 July – 10 August 2019.