Magneto. Professor Xavier. Gandalf The Grey. Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Richard III. King Claudius. These are just a few of the colorful, dynamic roles that Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart have played throughout their storied careers. Now they can add Estragon and Vladimir to the increasingly long list. As the two leads in Samuel Beckett's absurdist comedy "Waiting For Godot", these legendary actors and good friends prove they're still at the top of their game (at 74 and 73, respectively).
Not much happens in "Godot". The play basically consists of 2+ hours of dialogue between McKellen and Stewart, with occasional appearances by supporting players Shuler Hensley (as the bombastic Pozzo) and Billy Crudup (as the mostly mute Lucky). The nonstop conversations are about as far removed from the action-packed films the majority of the public associates with these two actors. But in their capable mouths, the often-nonsensical sentences sound like poetry. What in less talented hands can devolve into the rantings of a lunatic, here sounds sharp and witty -- like it was written by a slightly mad Aaron Sorkin. It's cliché but it's true: these men could make the phonebook sound like Shakespeare.
As Vladimir (Didi), Stewart exhibits a youthful energy that belies the desperation underneath his smiling facade. He and Estragon (Gogo) spend all day every day waiting for a man who never comes; the only thing Didi can think to fill the void with is talk. The second act of "Godot" is admittedly challenging, as it's essentially a variation on the first, and sitting through the same events again can be as tiresome for the audience as it is for Didi and Gogo. Thankfully, Stewart keeps the audience engaged as Didi's resolve begins to crumble, and watching him scramble to maintain his composure inspires both laughter and tears. As Pozzo, the tyrannical slave owner, Hensley is larger than life, serving as a loud and cartoonish foil to the older men's understated performances. As his slave Lucky, Crudup very nearly steals the show with a monologue that will take your breath away -- the words he's saying might as well be gibberish, and yet it's abundantly clear that, to Lucky, they're completely sensical. It's a tour de force moment in a play stuffed with brilliance.
But the show belongs squarely to Sir Ian. His Gogo is a delightful grouch, a perfect counterpoint to Didi's oppressive optimism. He may not have as firm of a grasp on the details as Didi, but somehow his slightly bemused reactions are even more relatable than his companion's levelheadedness. He grumbles, he fusses, he complains, often in an incomprehensible jumble, but when McKellen wants a line to be heard, the words land clear as bells as far back as the second balcony. McKellen's genius is as physical as it is verbal, with Gogo sporting a shuffling gait and believable limp that turn the powerful wizard into an ailing vagrant. The relationship of mutual reliance between these two very different men often turns the absurd proceedings into a poignant study on the nature of friendship and co-dependence.
Anyone who has studied theater history has horror stories of struggling through "Waiting For Godot" in college. But these real-life friends attack the play with such passion and such a sense of fun that it can't help but bleed off the stage into the house. The clearest impression the audience gets from watching this production of "Godot" is that McKellen and Stewart are having the time of their lives -- so we do, as well.
"Waiting For Godot" runs at the Cort Theatre in repertory with Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land" through March 2nd. Check out our full event listing here: https://stagebuddy.com/listingdetail.php?lid=15076
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysA3hqnWFxM[/youtube]
