Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot" is a bitter paean to patience in a story with characters who have no patience. Beckett's Estragon and Vladimir, his two tramp/clown characters are a pair fearfully faithful god seekers, Sysyphuses without a rock to roll or a hill to roll it up. As I sat, myself waiting, for finally, the final production in the IU Theatre. I couldn't help thinking about the department's former chairman R. Keith Michael and wondered whether he ever thought that the long, long awaited new IU Theatre opening this spring might be his own personal Godot.
In the IU production directed by Dale McFadden Godot is pronounced God- Oh and out of respect, I'll say it that way as well. Geff Wilson and Ira Amyx were active often amusing and frequently just plain charming as Estragon and Vladimir, the feckless tramps, who perpetually wait for Godot. Sheila Cecilia Regan, in a wild half military, half kitchen utensil uniform, played the traveling visitor Pozzo with a weird, fixed, sort of Christopher Walken smile that both unnerved and fascinated. Arian Moayed was her frighteningly catatonic servant. He was hard to look at and I'm sorry to say so mechanically ranting in his major speech that any impact became duller and duller. Jenny Bulla was the peculiar messenger boy who may or may not have the news of Godot's timetable for appearance.
For a play that focuses on mind numbing, meaningless, mechanical repetition of events the IU production has a lot of action and a lot of variety. McFadden has clearly given his actors plenty to do and also plenty of leeway in a show that really needs the audience to make human connections with the characters for it to have impact. I'm not willing to say that I'd like to take any of them home with me, but there were attractions. My own particular favorite figure was Ira Amyx as the warm, fuzzy tramp Vladimir, but my companion held with the lankier and more pathetic Geoff Wilson as Estragon. People near me were knocked out by Sheila Cecilia Regan's mechanical panache and costuming as Pozzo. Everyone was frightened by Arian Moayed as the pathetic Lucky and there were a few who were thoroughly charmed by the peculiar ways of Jenny Bulla as the not very hopeful messenger. The IU Theatre's richly detailed production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" plays each evening through Saturday.