Skip to main content

'Waiting for Waiting for Godot' by Sacred Fools

Julie Marchiano, Joe Hernandez-Kolski, and Bruno Oliver | Jessica Sherman Photography

 Written by Dave Hanson and directed by Jacob Sidney, Waiting for Waiting for Godot is about two actors, Ester (Bruno Oliver) and Val (Joe Hernandez-Kolski), who are understudies for a production of Waiting for Godot. 

 Prior to viewing the show, I got a drink with a friend at The Broadwater Plunge next door. The man who checked our IDs told us that the set we were about to witness was based on what the Broadwater backstage used to look like. It did not disappoint–a haphazard dressing room with racks and racks of clothing, cheap mirrors, a muffled speaker whispering what's currently taking place in the spotlight, vintage show posters littering the walls. Anyone who's ever spent a good amount of time backstage in a theatre feels right at home in the audience of Waiting for Waiting for Godot. 

 The show began with some clown work. Ester, for the life of him, could not get his suddenly-too-small vest to contain his chest. It set the tone for the evening: silly. 

 Clowning and Beckett always did go hand in hand.   

 Val enters with coffee and the two discuss whether The Director will appear tonight to alert the artists to their going on stage. As the evening progresses the two talk about what it means to be an actor–from mastering technique to the all-too-frequent longing for stability to the various reasons for pursuing the craft (fame, artistry, to be remembered...).

 The actors in the audience laughed at the inside jokes just for them–the emotional rollercoaster of each Meisner repetition, how they all end in a soft sob. They nodded in affirmation as Ester and Val were tempted by such things as owning a house and starting a family.  

 Oliver and Hernandez-Kolski were wonderfully cast. Oliver filled Ester with artistic bravado. Hernandez-Kolski gave Val that unmistakeable wide-eyed, new-actor-appreciation for the art that Angelinos see from actors fresh off the plane from their hometowns, ready to storm whatever acting classes and improv workshops they can get their hands on. Julie Marchiano played Laura the assistant stage manager so convincingly, with no-nonsense, I'd be surprised to learn she's never been an ASM before.     

 At its core, Waiting for Waiting for Godot is a play for actors. It's a fun, interesting evening at the theatre that gets to the heart of what it means to wake up every morning and need to create. Artists will wait as long as they need to–to perform, to share–because they have no other choice. 

 Waiting for Waiting for Godot runs through December 14 in the Broadwater Second Stage on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, with Sunday performances on December 1 & 8 at 5 pm. You can purchase tickets here.       

  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Happy Days' at the Mark Taper Forum

Dianne Wiest | Craig Schwartz When life starts to feel monotonous, when you start to feel alone in your marriage, when the earth begins to pile up around you and you fear you might be buried alive, remember the gun in your purse. Happy Days , directed by James Bundy,   is a piece of absurdist theatre by Samuel Beckett. It's the story of Winnie (played by Dianne Wiest) and Willie (played by Michael Rudko) living out their golden years in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. When the curtain lifts, we see Winnie, buried up to her waist in the desolate sand that fills the stage, a beautiful, sad black corset exposed–hinting at what her life used to be before it happened, before she was buried. The sky is piercing blue. The lighting, by Stephen Strawbridge, is clinical, as if we, the audience, are peering into a forbidden display at The Natural History Museum. Winnie begins to babble. "Another heavenly day." She speaks, largely, about how to fill her time–how she mustn'
Post a Comment
Read more

'Pockets' at Hollywood Fringe

Kat Primeau and Molly Dworsky Pockets is a very silly story about the importance of family, the double standard female rulers face, and the root of criminal activity in any given society. The world of Pockets takes place in the kingdom of Crumpeton, a fictional kingdom that celebrates, above all else, crumpets. Ruling while her husband is away is the Duchess (Kat Primeau), mother to the young Bellamina (Molly Dworsky). Bellamina feels neglected by her mother ever since she took over for her father and turns to a life of crime in protest. She becomes Pockets, the new, hot, young pickpocket on the streets of Crumpeton. Her one goal? Make life a little harder for her neglectful mother, the Duchess. Along the way, Bellamina realizes a special gift she possesses (in addition to her natural knack for pickpocketing): the ability to get people to listen to one another. Single-handedly she unites groups of criminals to work for a common goal, and, later, helps her mother to become a bet
24 comments
Read more

'What the Constitution Means to Me' at the Mark Taper Forum

Jocelyn Shek and Maria Dizzia |  Joan Marcus What the Constitution Means to Me is written by Heidi Schreck and directed by Oliver Butler. During its run at the Mark Taper Forum, the role of Heidi is played by Maria Dizzia.  I have only had the pleasure of seeing What the Constitution Means to Me performed by Dizzia, who takes the language of the piece so personally an audience member who didn't know any better, who was unfamiliar with Dizzia and Schreck, might believe the actress to have penned the words herself.  The play (performance piece) follows a young Heidi as she competes to earn scholarship money by giving speeches about the constitution at the American Legion hall in Wenatchee, Washington.  Throughout the evening, Dizzia alternates between teenage Heidi and adult Heidi to discuss the constitution and what it meant to her as a young woman orating for the sake of scholarship money and a grown woman reflecting on how her country's failed to protect generations
Post a Comment
Read more