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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

Waiting for Godot review – Beckett’s classic tragicomedy is more comedic than tragic

Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati as Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting for Godot
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati play woe-begotten fools Vladimir and Estragon in Beckett’s nihilistic tragicomedy. Photograph: Marc Brenner

Samuel Beckett’s 1953 tragicomedy about two woe-begotten men waiting by a willow tree for a mysterious figure to appear tips a delicate balance between the absurd and desolate, the funny and dreadful.

In James Macdonald’s production, the drama between Estragon (Lucian Msamati) and Vladimir (Ben Whishaw), who are yoked together in unspoken bondage as they wait for Godot, seems greater parts comedy than tragedy.

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