Questions on Godot

1) What is the temporal context for this play? At one point in the beginning of the play, Didi says, "We should have thought of it a million years ago, in the nineties."

2) Going off of question 1, how can a production reflect this temporal context and space through scenery, music, cues, etc?

3) What can we make of the various and resounding Biblical messages throughout the play? Another way of asking this is: How can we allow our audience, who may not be informed of the Biblical implications, to understand them?

4) I'm increasingly interested in Beckett's stage directions. As Erin pointed out last class, how can we take Beckett's directions in light of all the renditions of this production? In particular, Didi, Gogo, and Pozzo's reactions to Lucky's monologue is detailed and even tracked throughout the course of the speech. What if this doesn't fit into the context of one particular interpretation?

5) In relation to question 5, how can we interpret/manage the physicality of this play? Although the play is historically credited to "not much happening" there seems to be a plethora of physical motion, abuse, and self-expression through movement. (See the stage direction on page 82 - With sudden fury VLADIMIR starts kicking LUCKY, hurling abuse at him as he does so. But he hurts his foot and moves away limping and groaning. LUCKY stirs. Also, this is particularly interesting to think about in terms of Laurel and Hardy's "The Music Box")

6) After all the profound meaning that can be gleaned from this play, why does Beckett choose to end it on Estragon's dropped trousers? What can we make of this?

[7) This question relates to both Godot and "The Music Box." Based my presentation last class that brought up points about bourgeois society and power relations, I'm interested in how both Didi and Gogo - and to this extent Laurel and Hardy - play the roles of the lower classes that are subservient to the bourgeois. Do we find humor in their service or in the ridiculousness in the upper class systems? How do these power relationships color these two productions?]