Word: estragon
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...vagrants, Vladimir (Marc Jones) and Estragon (Dave Ardell), pass the time near a tree by the side of a country road, waiting for Godot. The reason for the appointment is never given. A passerby named Pozzo (Philip Munger) eventually strolls by with Lucky (Mark Fish), his slave. Later a boy enters to relay the message that Godot will come tomorrow, "Tomorrow" is the second act, but Godot never arrives...
...absence of a plot, the play's strength naturally lies in its terse, comic and frequently moving dialogue. Vladimir and Estragon engage in an endless exchange of aphorisms and meditations that range from somber and melancholy to grotesque and inane. They are slapstick hobos in bowler hats and rags, lifted from the innocent genre of the cabaret and set down in the bizarre world of Beckett's imagination. They celebrate the play's nothingness and stasis through repeated gestures and expressions of absurdity...
...fails. Jones turns in an engaging performance as Vladimir, the more flighty of the two derelicts. Striking comic postures that require yogic flexibility, he attacks his lines with the right degree of mania and pathos. His lanky frame and expressive face effectively contrast the countenance of his counterpart, Estragon...
...Estragon, Ardell enjoys an easy rapport with Jones on stage. Sporting a dirty leather jacket, a filthy sweatband and a five o'clock shadow, Ardell looks like Indiana Jones after a forage through the mud. He delivers a strong and energetic performance, though his dramatic range tends to diminish as the play progresses...
...when something happens here, nothing happens." The text seems to strive for the bizarre comedy of nothingness epitomized in Waiting For Godot. In Beckett's work, though nothing happens, the audience is satisfied and even amused. But these characters lack the magnetism and originality of a Vladimir or an Estragon...