“Shmuel Beckett’s Vartn af Godot”
George Xenos’s set for the Yiddish-language version of Samuel
Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at Theatre
at the 14th Street Y is a drab expanse backed by black curtains in front of fronted by an oblong acting space. The only scenic embellishments are
a pile of burlap bags at one side, containing who knows what, and the rusting,
skeletal remains of a white, backyard umbrella, its cloth-less, naked ribs
protruding from its center pole. (Beckett’s laconic description is merely: “A country
road. A tree.”)
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| David Mandelbaum, Eli Rosen. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
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| David Mandelbaum, Eli Rosen. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
Then the older one says “Me ken gornisht tee-en” (“Nothing
to be done”) and the New Yiddish Rep’s very well-acted production of Beckett’s
path-breaking postwar tragicomedy—originally produced in French in 1948 before being
translated into English in 1954—is off and not exactly running. The frequently
complaining, white-haired alte kaker
is Estragon a.k.a. Gogo (David Mandelbaum, the company’s artistic director). His more composed friend is Vladimir a.k.a. Didi (Eli Rosen). They’re waiting,
and will continue to wait, for someone named Godot.
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| David Mandelbaum, Gera Sandler, Richard Saudek, Eli Rosen. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
This revival, directed by Ronit Muszkatblit, is New York’s
second look at Shane Baker’s translation. Baker, a non-Jew from Kansas City,
MO, who’s also an actor, played Didi in the New Yiddish Rep’s 2013 premiere of
his translation, directed by Moshe Yassur. For some reason, Baker, whose personal
story is fascinating, doesn’t get a bio in the program, but you can read about
him here.
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| David Mandelbaum. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
Somehow, Beckett’s familiar, plotless depiction of Gogo and
Didi’s existence as displaced persons in the bleak wasteland of a possibly God-less
universe takes on a new life when spoken in Yiddish (with the accent in “Godot”
falling on the first syllable). This holds true through their duologues and
when they encounter the ruthless Pozzo (Gera Sandler) and his miserably treated
lackey, Lucky (Richard Saudek), as well as the Boy (Noam Sandler alternating
with Myron Tregubov), a child sent as a messenger from Godot, who declares “he
will surely come tomorrow.”
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| Eli Rosen, Richard Saudek, Gera Sandler. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
An aura of Jewish suffering, even with overtones of the Holocaust,
pervades the performance as the men struggle to keep their spirits up, to pass
the time, and to survive until Godot arrives, which it becomes clear will never
happen.
Each performance is carefully molded, making moment-to-moment
sense of Beckett’s famously enigmatic writing. Despite the often-cloudy
intentions and situations, the actors are grittily, even naturalistically, believable. When, for example, Pozzo eats a greasy piece of chicken and discards
the bone on the floor, as well as a nearby morsel, Gogo doesn't hesitate to retrieve and finish them off.
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| Noam Sandler. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
A principal drawback for anyone who’s seen multiple productions
of Waiting for Godot will be how
dreary, even dispirited, much of this version seems, partly because of its
low-keyed, pause-filled pacing. Beckett was strongly influenced by vaudeville
comedians and the best revivals of the play, like the Broadway
one starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart a few years ago, can be hilariously
funny as the men’s music hall shtick becomes emblematic of their survival tactics
in this cruel world.
On the other hand, whereas Billy Crudup’s Lucky in the
McKellen-Stewart production was technically accomplished but not especially
memorable, Richard Saudek offers here a masterful interpretation of this
difficult role. It requires him to mainly stand around endlessly, bent over like an old,
beaten dray horse, and then to deliver at top speed one of the most difficult, opaque speeches in the dramatic repertoire.
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| David Mandelbaum. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
His sadly stooping posture and hopeless, vacant eyes, staring
out from beneath a droopy gray wig, as he lugs Pozzo’s belongings, a rope
dangling from his neck, are startlingly contrasted with his spewing forth Lucky’s shouted
tirade of seeming non sequiturs. You can get an idea of this remarkable clown’s
mimic abilities from this clip, which
has nothing to do with Godot.
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| Richard Saudek. Photo: Dina Raketa. |
Even with such fine performances, this Waiting for Godot can drag, especially when its comedy is muted and
you have to read fuzzy English titles from a modest-sized upstage monitor for
two and a half hours (with one intermission). “How time flies when one has fun,”
says Didi. In this production, not so much.
OTHER VIEWPOINTS:
Theater
at the 14th Street Y
344
E. 14th St., NYC
Through
January 27
