Don't wait to see 'Godot'

Fifty years ago this month, one of the most influential plays ever written was first produced on a small stage in France. Unlike anything the stage had ever seen, it forever changed the nature of theater and even how people think about life. That play was Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

Last night, in a small theater in an old church at the end of the Green Line in Newton, Godot was revisited by the New Repertory Theatre. Under the inspired direction of Rick Lombardo, the small but talented cast tore into Beckett's timeless work with a focused energy that enabled the play to resonate with the minds of modern audiences.

The abstract tragicomedy that defined the genre stars Boston favorite John Kuntz as the forgetful clown, Estragon, and Austin Pendleton as the somewhat wiser, somewhat more serious Vladimir. Interestingly enough, Pendleton has had previous Godot experience, as he was Estragon in the definitive 1976 production staged by Beckett himself.

The pair played the two old friends with ease, creating a chemistry that suggested they had been waiting for Godot for quite a long time. Of course neither can remember for sure. Nor does the duo know why they are waiting, or who Godot really is. But they know they must wait, and are helpless to leave. Will Godot ever show? It seems unlikely. One can cut the existentialist symbolism with a knife.

Estragon cannot even remember from one day to another, bur rather he wanders along time with only Vladimir to guide him. He periodically asks Vladimir why they cannot leave, to which Vladimir replies with a sigh, "because we're waiting for Godot." Estragon grimaces in horror and folds his hands above his head.

This repeated comedic bit becomes less and less funny. Not because it gets old, but because as the duo continues to wait for Godot it becomes increasingly apparent that Godot will never come. We realize that Godot represents everything we hope for in life, everything that is always just beyond our reach.

As Vladimir and Estragon drift along in a world where they are only defined through the mundane action of waiting, where they can only relay on each other's intangible memories for information, and where their existence is an illusion that depends upon the recognition of others, Beckett's views of the world can seem bleak and frightening. Of course, he depicts it devoid of meaning and filled with absurdity. However, even in this world, Vladimir and Estragon always had each other, and if nothing else, a sense of humor.

Kuntz's physical comedy brings Estragon to life and would have made Beckett proud, since the playwright was a large fan of mime and clowning. Kuntz's comic timing is precise; he can be loud and silly and larger than life one minute, and refined and subtle the next. His periodic outbursts raging against the oppression of his predicament are tragic.

Pendleton's Vladimir is the perfect compliment to Estragon, taking in his fits of anguish with a relaxed air of knowledge. Pendleton's facial expressions always seem to be between a smile and a frown as if to indicate that his refined Vladimir knows the absurdity of his situation as well as his helplessness to change it.

Vladimir and Estragon's monotony is broken up by the pompous and abusive land owner Pozzo, played aptly by Ken Baltin, and his sickly slave Lucky, played by a frightening Bates Wilder done up in Frankenstein-like makeup. These two enter halfway through the first and second act, both times abrasively disrupting the more natural repartee between Vladimir and Estragon that the audience is more comfortable with. However, as vulgar and disturbing as Pozzo and Lucky can be, in the second act they are a very welcome distraction for Vladimir and Estragon, who are coming to grips with the hopelessness of life.

Godot is a play for anyone who has ever struggled, has been overwhelmed or sat up late dreading that fact that morning always comes. It is a sympathetic work that acknowledges all of life's mysteries, answers none of its questions, but does not let any of that stand in the way of a good joke.

Waiting for Godot is playing through Feb 9 at the New Repertory Theatre in Newton Highlands. Call (617) 332-1646 for information.