WAITING FOR GODOT at Roundabout's Studio 54

(Seen 5/1/09)

Little seems to have changed in this revival of Samuel Beckett's absurdist classic play, which is a good thing for a play about nothing changing. The two obvious changes are the pronunciation of Godot, now "God, Oh", and the introduction of some huge rocks that make it resemble a setting for the Flintstones.

The single bare tree, the endless waiting for someone who will never appear, the psychological and societal discussions about the meaning of life and of reality -- people trapped in wordplay and re-play of their dreary daily existence -- it's all here. It affirms the sense of nothingness and emptiness and futility.

But director Anthony Page has enabled his actors to bring an underlying sense of life and struggle to these doomed characters. Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, John Glover, and John Goodman all manage to capture the desperation and hopelessness and innate humor of their characters -- both physically and verbally -- which adds a new dimension to their pursuit.