Lover of the texts, of the word as accurately as possible, the director Alain Françon presents “Waiting for Godot”, a famous play by Samuel Beckett, at the Théâtre de Carouge (GE) until January 29. Full house night following night.
Two accomplices. More tramps than wealthy people, Estragon and Vladimir, alias Gogo and Didi for those close to them. They are waiting for Godot at the foot of a starving tree. Yesterday they were already there: he did not come. Will he come tonight? We guess the question has not been answered for a significant number of evenings pounding the soles on this country road.
With this first paragraph, you know half the action of “Waiting for Godot”. The sequel is the arrival of two other cranks, Pozzo and Lucky. The first leads the second with a rope. The second carries the luggage of the first and seems as stupid as he is exhausted. Strange hitch between a master and his slave, a torturer and his whipping boy. Along the way, would they have met Godot? No, of course. Finally, it’s a kid who will come to give some news: Mr. Godot will try to pass. Tomorrow maybe. All that remains is to continue to wait.
“Waiting for Godot” directed by Alain Françon at the Théâtre de Carouge. [Thomas O’Brien – Théâtre de Carouge]
Come back tomorrow
Speaking of waiting, the list is long at the Théâtre de Carouge until January 29. “Waiting for Godot” is sold out. If you don’t have tickets, come back tomorrow. Or the day following tomorrow?
And to think that when it premiered in Paris in 1953, “Waiting for Godot” caused a scandal. In the followingmath of World War II, the public may have been hoping for optimism or a positivist morality. Samuel Beckett gave him this play where hope is adorned with ridicule, cruelty parades with the clown’s mask, the hero wears the tinsel of a drunken tramp and the action comes down to this: waiting. Wait once more. Who knows what tomorrow has in store for us?
Classic and modern piece
In Carouge, “Waiting for Godot”, an untouchable modern classic (the Beckett Foundation watches over any attempt to retouch the masterpiece), is adorned with the raven hues of the scenographer Jacques Gabel. Goldsmith of the texts, the French director Alain Françon surrounds himself with a team of faithful actors: Gilles Privat, André Marcon, Guillaume Lévêque, Eric Berger, to which is added Antoine Heuillet, in the role of the child-messenger , the tune of a Tadzio out of “Death in Venice”.
The end, the whole room already knows it. “Waiting for Godot” is a classic and some of its cult lines. Thus the first sentence, heralding the whole affair: – “Nothing to do.” The main thing is elsewhere. In the dialogues of Didi and Gogo, philosophers of ditches and hollow bellies. In this happiness and this misfortune which characterize the human species: to ask oneself existential questions and to try to pierce the future.
Thierry Sartoretti/mh
“Waiting for Godot”, Théâtre de Carouge, until January 29, 2023.
