rudy-30 Review of Waiting for Godot

Play of the Week: Waiting for Godot (1961) Season 2, Episode 28

Peetr and Judas meet Lucifer while waiting for Jesus to return to Earth

[3 January 2015]

I first read this play in high school. I didn't understand it very well. I then listened to an original cast recording featuring E.G. Marshall, Bert Lahr, and Kurt Kasznar. I purchased a copy of this production and now I think I understand it. Estragon, played by Zero Mostel is obsessed with a tree and hanging. I think he is a metaphor for Judas. Vladimir, played by Burgess Meredith is Peter. I say this because Vladimir has met Godot but forgets what he looks like. Peetr denied knowing Jesus. While they are talking, they encounter Pozzo (Kurt Kasznar) who mentions that they are on his property. I think Pozzo is Lucifer, because he dpesn't care if they stay on his land or not. Also, he beats Lucky, a human treated as a horse. Supposedly, Lucifer beats the sinners although here in a sense of black humor, the unfortunate man is called Lucky. Alvin Epstein's speech is too garbled for me. Maybe it is a bad copy, but the others speak clearly. Jack Gilford makes such a brief appearance that I am surprised to see him credited. There is an old Jewish story about the Messiah telling a rabbi that he will appear tomorrow. The same theme runs through this play. A boy arrives to announce each day that Godot will show up tomorrow. The physical humor between Meredith and Mostel is hilarious. They partially imitate Laurel and Hardy, but in a subtle manner.