by Samuel Beckett
I read a lot of scripts for my job. It’s time for season selection/design, so it’s time to read scripts. It’s been cutting into my CBR review time. And then I realized: I’m still reading stories. Here’s one of those stories.
“Well? Shall we go?”
Act I
Two men, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), meet by a leafless tree near an empty road. They have a conversation that reveals they are waiting there for a man named Godot. They’re uncertain if they’ve ever met Godot, if they’re waiting in the right place, if this is the right day, or even whether Godot is going to show up at all. While they wait, they pass time in mundane activities, trivial conversations, arguments, reconciliations, and discussions of suicide.
Two other men enter. Pozzo is on his way to the market to sell his slave, Lucky. He pauses for a while to talk with Vladimir and Estragon. The four men proceed to do together what Didi and Gogo did earlier by themselves: nothing. Lucky entertains them by dancing and thinking, then Pozzo and Lucky leave. Vladimir and Estragon return to their mundane activities, trivial conversations, arguments, reconciliations, and discussions of suicide.
Vladimir thinks they’ve met Pozzo and Lucky before but he’s not sure.
A boy enters and tells Vladimir that Godot isn’t coming today, but will be there tomorrow. Vladimir thinks the boy has said this before before but he’s not sure. The boy departs.
Estragon and Vladimir talk about suicide and then decide to leave, but they do not move as the curtain falls.
Act II
The next night Vladimir and Estragon meet near the leafless tree by the empty road. They have a conversation that reveals they are waiting for Godot. They’re uncertain if they’ve ever met Godot, if they’re waiting in the right place, if this is the right day, or even whether Godot is going to show up at all. They pass the time in mundane activities, trivial conversations, arguments, reconciliations, and discussions of suicide.
While they wait, Pozzo and Lucky enter again, but now Pozzo is blind and Lucky is dumb. The four men do nothing. Pozzo and Lucky leave. Vladimir and Estragon return to their mundane activities, trivial conversations, arguments, reconciliations, and discussions of suicide. Vladimir thinks they’ve met Pozzo and Lucky before but he’s not sure.
A boy enters and tells Vladimir that Godot isn’t coming today, but will be there tomorrow. Vladimir thinks the boy has said this before but he’s not sure. The boy departs.
Estragon and Vladimir talk about suicide and then decide to leave, but they do not move as the curtain falls.
The End.
I think I know what happens next.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Cannonball Read