An absurdist comedy, Waiting for Godot is a play in two acts written by Samuel Beckett. This will be the second play in Covenant College Theatre’s fall 2015 season and will be directed by senior Cacey Williams. The play is, as the title suggests, about two men, Vladimir and Estragon, who are perpetually waiting for Godot. They seem to talk about nothing and everything at the same time as they try to fend off the boredom while waiting. Waiting for Godot has a slower tempo, however, it does a wonderful job of keeping the audience engaged. Though it has entertaining moments, the play wrestles with ideas of depression, existential emptiness, and why we are here.
When asked about the show, the director Cacey Williams said, “We all know it. We’ve all done it. To wait, or not to wait. That is the question. Or is the question, what do we do while we wait? Beckett wrote about the frustrating, comedic, playful, angry, and empty effects of man’s waiting, while he himself was living through the effects of WWII. His examination of the subject is timeless. It’s a simple truth: While man lives... he waits. So what is it that we do while we wait? And what exactly are we waiting for? When I was told to pick a project that encompassed my time as an undergraduate, a play about waiting was really made sense to me. I’ve read this play several times over the last 10 years but it has never resonated so strongly with me before. It’s been liberating to wrestle with the ideas that I have been feeling for so long and I hope that people can give themselves the freedom to wrestle with them too.”
The show is being produced by the student-led Drama Association and directed by Ms. Williams for her SIP. For those of you who do not know, a SIP is a senior integration project; thus, Ms. Williams is directing the show for her culminating senior project before graduation. She will be looking at this play in much more depth than she would if it were merely for a class; this project jumpstarts her thinking and working in a more professional and formal way. For those who have seen recent shows by Covenant College Theatre Department, most of the actors who appear in Waiting for Godot will be familiar faces.
Waiting for Godot will preview on Nov. 12, at 8 p.m. It opens on Nov. 13 with performances running Nov. 13 and 14 at 8 p.m., and the next weekend, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. and Nov. 21, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets will be $3 for students, staff, and seniors, and $5 for adults. To reserve tickets, or for more information, call the box office at 706 419-1051 or email boxoffice@covenant.edu.