Simply Waiting

A country road. A tree. Evening.

With this simple stage instruction "the most significant English language play of the 20th century" premiered a little over 60 years ago. Waiting for Godot is about two tramps who spend the day waiting for a man named Godot, who--spoiler alert!--never comes. Vladimir and Estragon talk, a few characters enter and leave the scene, they talk some more, they engage in humdrum activities (trying on boots, eating a carrot), and the play ends, the strong implication being that they'll be waiting for Godot tomorrow.

The action and plot development are minimal, and today's ADD audience would be checking their smartphones in a minute. But that's precisely the point: in our effort to avoid the bleakness of existence ("They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more") we create distractions. We may natter on about meaning and purpose, but we all end up in the same place.

Nathan Lane and John Goodman, 2009 Broadway production.
(NY Times)

In English courses of the Sixties and Seventies Waiting for Godot was required reading. Your humble high school student exasperatedly kept looking for a storyline, conflict, and resolution, before realizing that traditional dramatic structures weren't present. The meaning was that there was no meaning. (Wow, that's heavy, man.)

Whether one agrees with the playwright's vision of existence, one can appreciate his yearning for simplicity: one scene on a stage devoid of embellishment, a few characters with no flashy costuming, and a couple of hand-held props. Cleanse your body, mind, and surroundings, say the wise men of religion or psychiatry. Even if Godot doesn't come, at least we'll have cleaned up the clutter. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

This Fine Day

I had never heard the songbook of Finian's Rainbow until our high school performed it. We had wonderful singers and talented comedic actors in the class ahead of us, and playing in the concert orchestra I was lucky to have a front row seat.

The tunes have stayed with me---much more than other Sixties musicals that garnered more awards---but, now that I am closer in age to the old Irish father than his daughter, the lyrics take on poignancy.

How are things in Glocca Morra?
Is that little brook still leaping there?
Does it still run down to Donny cove
Through Killybegs, Kilkerry and Kildare?

How are things in Glocca Morra?
Is that willow tree still weeping there?
Does that laddie with the twinkling eye
Come whistling by? And does he walk away
Sad and dreamy there, not to see me there?

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, especially to everyone who is far from home.

[Note: the 1968 film with Fred Astaire and Petula Clark, directed by Francis Ford Coppola(!), is on Amazon Streaming Video and is free to Amazon Prime customers.]

Peter Pan 360

Tinkerbell and Wendy (book photo)

The big white tent is coming down and the show is leaving town. Peter Pan 360, a 21st-century update of J M Barrie's century-old fable, closed its San Francisco run over the Labor Day weekend. I did enjoy its mix of acrobatics, special effects, and drama, but not as much as some enthusiastic reviewers.

What I liked: 1) The rolling R's, clear diction, and dramatic presence of the British leads; 2) The creative use of puppets and machinery to animate Nana the Newfoundland dog and the crocodile, Hook's nemesis. 3) The acrobatics of "flying" on support wires and the choreographed transitions as the play resumed on land.

Why I can't give it four stars: 1) the spotty quality of the secondary actors; 2) in a world where spectacle can be pulled up on home widescreens the CGI doesn't measure up to Avatar and the actors aren't Cirque du Soleil acrobats; 3) the adult ticket price of $80 to $120 is steep (it will be lower when the show moves to Orange County later this month).

But these nits are more about my idiosyncrasies than this production. I know that I wanted more song-and-dance--I can't watch "Pygmalion" without hoping for a few numbers from "My Fair Lady." And live action is expensive, especially when situated on the expensive San Francisco waterfront. It was a pleasurable afternoon that I'll remember fondly, if not forever, but for quite a while. © 2010 Stephen Yuen

Even from the back there's a good view