There’s lots of comedy and visual humour in Silent Faces Theatre Company’s Godot is a Woman, but this is a clever, slick and entertaining show which conveys a serious message.
Why are people so keen to hang on to outdated ideas about gender, and what can be done to challenge not only those ideas but also the entrenched power of the patriarchy in general?
In Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot, Vladimir and Estragon spend their entire time hanging about waiting for the unseen Godot. While they wait they have mundane and apparently pointless conversations; they have to pass the time somehow. They talk about leaving but can’t. They are stuck in a kind of purgatory, and have no idea what to do about it. One of the few stage props is a tree. The characters could hang themselves from it, but they never do (‘no rope’).
Waiting for Godot is a philosophical consideration of the human condition and the meaning (or lack of meaning) of life. Beckett himself told one actor that it was ‘all about symbiosis’ – a relationship of mutual benefit. Other than that, he largely refused to comment on it and often said he was fed up with people trying to force meaning into it.
But one thing Beckett was clear about was this: he didn’t ever want a woman to play any of the parts. Beckett died in 1989 and his estate has vigorously upheld his wishes ever since. A few productions starring women have taken place over the years, but one was (unsuccessfully) taken to court by the estate, and others have been restricted to making the actors dress as men.
When a French judge ruled that a woman-only production by the Brut de Beton company should be allowed to proceed, it was only on condition that an objection by Beckett’s representative had to be read before each performance.
Godot is a Woman opens with three tramp-like characters standing on a stage. A stage with a tree. But no, we are not going to see a production of Waiting for Godot, because the group is still waiting for permission to stage it with two female and one non-binary actors. And this set also has a phone box, because the actors have been trying to contact the estate for ages, and now they’re stuck in a call centre queue. Welcome to a modern day nightmare.
Josie Underwood, Jack Wakely and Cordelia Stevenson are masters of visual comedy. They clown about, they dance, they mutter, they bicker, they joke; their facial expressions are both communicative and hilarious, and their jokes are very funny. They re-enact the hat-swapping scene from the original play; they eat carrots; they hug. But like Vladimir and Estragon they are fundamentally just passing the time, waiting for a man’s estate to give women/non-binary people permission to do something. From time to time they wonder what they should do, but the answer is always the same;
‘Nothing happens/Nobody comes/Nobody goes/It’s awful.’
A particularly clever device is the suspension of a battered copy of Waiting for Godot above the stage. It hovers just out of reach, but every time one of them makes a grab for it, thunder booms, lightning flashes, and the book shoots higher and higher. At one point a disembodied voice from the phone shouts ‘PUT IT DOWN!’
The characters want it, but they’re scared to take it. They fear the consequences. When they are finally connected to an answering service, Underwood is so taken aback that she leaves a grovelling passive-aggressive plea
‘we haven’t heard and we’re quite pushed for time…Thanks, love you!, Bye.’
They’re pleading for permission to be allowed to be a woman/non-binary. And as one of them points out, even Helen Mirren and Fiona Shaw gave up when faced with the wrath of the Beckett estate; it’s not just these three who’re feeling intimidated.
‘But Ian McKellan could do it.’
A voiceover programme that sounds suspiciously like Front Row captures the tone of pompous theatre critics perfectly. They drone on about Beckett’s (‘Bickett’s”) genius in creating ‘a classic’, and suggest a nonsensical reason for the playwright not wanting a female cast; Vladimir (they allege) has prostate problems. And daft as it may sound, this excuse was at one point even dredged up by Beckett himself.
But none of this moves our actors any closer to their goal
‘Well that passed the time.’
They begin to realise that they are turning into Vladimir and Estragon. They keep saying they’ll leave but they don’t
‘We’re waiting for ‘Waiting for Godot!’’
Then they have an idea; they could play the estate at its own game, and take it to court; retaliate first.
The court scene is brilliantly staged; although the actors frequently swap roles, with just minimal props – a wig, a file, a briefcase – they quickly inhabit each one. Sorting out which character is which is often a problem in these short Fringe productions, but Silent Faces Theatre are impressively adept at conveying what the audience needs to know; there is no confusion whatsoever here.
The prosecution argument in the case is both ingenious and logical. Neither a pompous judge nor an arrogant defence can put the actors off their stride. They run rings around a pivotal witness, assert that all the ‘female’ roles in Beckett’s other plays objectify, patronise and belittle women, destroy (in a hugely entertaining scene) the argument about Vladimir’s prostate, and make inspired use of Madonna’s Like a a Prayer (‘a CLASSIC!’ and also – coincidentally and helpfully – released in the year of Beckett’s death) to prove their point
‘Everything was changing back then and we embraced it, but now everyone just seems so angry.’
Wakeley gives an illuminating explanation of just how long non-binary people have been on this earth (with no trouble at all until Europeans invaded their various countries), and Underwood gets to the core of the issue in one short sentence
‘(The play) is about the things that unite us as humans regardless of gender.’
And as the actors rehearse their arguments, the chains that bind them start to fall away. In a spectacular, energising, triumphant finale they stop waiting for approval and set themselves free.
To combine slapstick comedy with political message is a skill in itself; to create a play as multi-layered, funny and well acted as Godot is a Woman is nothing short of remarkable. The standing ovation the cast received from the audience when I was there bore full witness to that.
Godot is a Woman is at Pleasance Courtyard (Forth) at 3.35pm until 27 August. Please note there is no performance on Monday 21 August. Silent Faces Theatre Company’s website is here.
It includes full details of the remaining tour dates for this production, which will move on to Cambridge, Nottingham, Chester, Doncaster and Halifax.
