Lansing’s Riverwalk Theatre will be the venue for the tragi-comedy “Waiting for Godot” during the next two weekends.
The Samuel Beckett play is designed to “rouse audiences to demonstration of enthusiasm and anger” and will be directed by Bob Gras.
Brad Rutledge and Terry Jones star as two broken-down men waiting for the mysterious, all-powerful entity named Godot, who continually says he will appear but never does.
The plot thickens as a brutal and devilish slave-owner forces his slave to act on his every command. Their relationship remains the same throughout, even though he is blind and his slave is mute later in the play.
Michael Siracuse, Riverwalk’s box office and business manager, said the play is a “struggle between good and evil” and is a very “symbolic and metaphorical play with many twists and turns.”
“It’s a well-known show, but not that well-known to the general public,” he said. “People coming to watch the play should look at it from different angles and put some thought into what they’re seeing. It’s not just mindless entertainment.”
Siracuse also said the play is quite controversial because, like any other show that portrays God and the Devil, it can rub some people the wrong way.
“Everything unfolds and by the end, you realize after being in the dark for a while that you finally understand what’s going on,” he said.
Rutledge, who will play Vladimir, said he was drawn to the play because he has worked with Gras before and respects his judgment.
“I saw (the play) in Ontario and I was intrigued and challenged by the themes,” he said.
Rutledge also said the audience shouldn’t overanalyze the play and should just react to the words and rhythms presented.
Tim Lewis, who will play slave-owning Pozzo, has also worked with the director before and said the play contains everything from laughter to reflection.
Lewis, who has to don a “fat suit” for his role, said the most challenging aspect of the play is having to switch from talking to other characters one minute and “going off into my own little world” the next.
Rutledge said trying to convey the nature of his character to the audience was the most challenging and satisfying part of the play.
