Still No Godot

Sol Theatre turns Beckett's classic about cosmic boredom into pure entertainment

Comments (0) By Ronald Mangravite Thursday, Apr 8 2004

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Still Hooker's production gets the main points right. The set establishes Beckett's bleak view of the human condition: muddy walls embedded with bones, frightful masks, and skeletal parts huddle forlornly beneath a cold, moonlit sky. The haunting music score by Richard Brookens adds an unsettling sense of mystery. Beckett wrote Godot after the nightmare of World War II, when all forms of belief seemed useless. The play shatters and refracts many belief systems -- Christianity, totalitarianism (the Pozzo/Lucky relationship seems directly borrowed from the didactic plays of Bertolt Brecht), and liberal rationalism. None of it solves anything, Beckett seems to say, and none of it offers solace, except in the hope of the new day to come. It's here where Hooker makes another significant mistake in a small role. By casting an adult in the role of the child bearing a message from Godot, the production is robbed of that hopeful element. The child embodies the potential that the next generation, unburdened by the knowledge of the human condition, can bring salvation. These reservations aside, the Sol's Godot may be as good a chance as South Florida will get to see a strong production of this classic play.

This production is worth the wait

Details

Written by Samuel Beckett. Directed by Robert Hooker. With Jim Gibbons, Melanie Keegan, Ivan Saltz, Fritz Stang, and Jim Sweet. Presented through April 25. Call 954-525-6555, www.soltheatre.com

Sol Theatre Project, 1140 NE Flagler Dr., Fort Lauderdale