Word: didi
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Gogo and Didi, the heroes of Waiting for Godot, are Beckett's symbols of the twentieth century man; they are former hoboes, now burns, who dress in the loose fitting and shabby formal clothes of the burlesque clown; they are former homosexuals, now incapable of satisfying each other beyond a furtive embrace or a titillating story about an Englishman in a brothel; and, because of Beckett's genius for paradox, they turn out to be dignified human beings...
...converse calmly, since we are incapable of keeping silent." Waiting for Godot has nearly no action, only waiting and talk, the talk to make the waiting pass more quickly. Gogo, intellectually an infant, curls into a foetal position and sleeps whenever he has the chance, tries to tell Didi about his dreams, talks of running away so that Didi will convince him to stay, and whines about his aching feet. Didi knows that his only important job is to keep the two together. He ignores Gogo when necessary, refuses to listen to his dreams, creates a pleasant illusion when that...
...news of his imminent coming, the tree and the rock (the play's only two props), the talk about the two thieves who may or may not have been crucified with Christ--it is as senseless, trivial, and disorganized as it seems to be. "Has he a beard?" asks Didi softly. "Yes sir," answers the boy. "Fair or...(he hesitates)...or black?" "I think it's white, sir." Silence. "Christ have mercy...
...That's been going on now for half a century," or "This is becoming really insignificant.") But, Beckett also elevates vaudeville routines--quick changes of identical hats and pants falling down--and cliched conversation into ironic or obscene importance. Gogo says, "I can't go on like this." and Didi replies, "That's what you think." And that's the point of the play...
...sure Micky Deems has, more than once. His movements and even his voice are uncannily like Lahr's, except that, unlike Lahr, Deems has never been quoted to have said, "I don't understand a damn word in the whole play." His performance is splendid. Dan Morgan plays Didi in the manner of a surly, gravel voiced straight man. Though he has only two movements on stage--a mincing goose-step and a tugging at his bagy trousers--he is perfect for the role...