1 post tagged “pbs”

I remember the first time that I saw the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot.  It was a televised production on PBS that aired at night years ago.  Part of me knew that that the play was famous and had some importance in the world of theater, but those were the only things that I brought with me to that first viewing.  Now in hindsight, I think that I was unprepared.

I had no idea why the one character was being so mean to the other character.  What I do know is that I found the every increasing violence to be distasteful.  This was not Shakespeare.  This was not Tennessee Williams.  This was something ugly and unkind.

Now a decade older and having a better understanding of theater, I have come to know that Beckett deals in what is known as theater of the absurd.  There is no plot per se.  There is no overt action.  Dialogue is everything even though it is harsh and at times repetitive.  So with these tools in hand, I felt that I was somewhat more prepared for witnessing another Beckett play, Endgame, tonight before I went to work.

Once again I was confronted with two characters who argue with one another and who are violent towards one another.  One character is more dominant than the other, but both of them seem to be equally trapped in a world lacking life.  Then the word play begins.  They ask questions of each other, but seem less than satisfied with the answers.  Talking becomes more of a chore than anything else.  There is no real goal in mind.

Maybe this is the point of Beckett plays.  I do not know.  I personally find them to be tiresome.