It’s been 73 years since the first performance of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and Vladimir and Estragon are still waiting.  The play though has become an established  icon of experimental 20th century theatre and millions of words have been written about it.  It’s currently running at Coal Mine Theatre in a production directed by Kelli Fox.  As far as I remember (and it’s been fifty years since I read the play) this production plays it straight and pretty much entirely according to the stage directions in the script.  The set is a tree and a bunch of dirt.  Nobody sits in a dust bin.  So everything turns on subtlety and timing which is quite a challenge.

But Coal Mine has assembled a really good cast.  Estragon and Vladimir are played by Ted Dykstra and Alexander Thomas.  They don’t put a foot (or a boot) wrong.  Dykstra is properly whiny and Thomas conveys a kind of pointless optimism.  Their timing is impeccable and so the jokes come off.  Things only get better when they are joined by Pozzo and Lucky; played by Jim Mezon and Simon Bracken.  The first act scene with them is excellent with Bracken weirdly immobile until he “thinks” where he produces a mesmerising rant of cod philosophy.  To cap it off Kole Parks is just about perfect as The Boy; timid and polite and conveying anxiety beautifully.  This is just all really fine acting.

There’s not much one can say about set (Scott Penner) and costumes (Ming Wong).  They get the job done.  The lighting (Louise Guinand) effectively conveys the passage of time.  Coal Mine is a good place to stage such a work too.  It’s sufficiently intimate.  It’s hard to see this working so well in a much larger theatre.

For all it’s status Waiting for Godot doesn’t get that many professional productions.  Coal Mine’s production is a great opportunity to see it done extremely well in an intimate setting.

Waiting for Godot runs at Coal Mine Theatre until October 5th.