July 20, 2007, Waiting for Godot at St Paul’s Church, By Henry Vermillion, Henley play gives old topics a new twist of humor, By Rudy Hornish, Anne Frank opening to benefit SPA, By Christine Foster

Theater
Waiting for Godot
Wed & Thurs, July 25 & 26, 7:15pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
10 pesos

Waiting for Godot at St Paul’s Church
By Henry Vermillion

FOTO caption: “left to right, Jim Newell, Anna Bensaud, and Nancy Kandal

Waiting for Godot has been called by many “the most significant English language play of the 20th century,” yet there are those who think it dull or pretentious—“Nothing happens in it.”

Things do happen—slapstick comedy, pants falling down, (bad) singing and dancing and above all, vigorous, amazing language, pregnant with meanings not always as simple as they appear to be. There are arguments between Vladimir and Estragon (the two who wait fruitlessly for Godot); there are fights; there is poetry; there are pratfalls; there is nonsense. Robin Williams and Steve Martin recently played these characters with great success on stage in California.

There are only five characters in the play, all male. Lucky is the most pathetic. He is the faithful, subservient slave of Pozzo, who yanks him around by a rope tied around his neck. Lucky stoically carries his master’s suitcase, basket, stool and other equipment. “Stool!” Pozzo orders, yanking the rope. Lucky brings the stool and meekly retreats to his place. “Basket!” Pozzo orders; Lucky brings the picnic basket, puts it down and retreats to his place. Lucky speaks only once in the whole play, when his master orders him to “think.” This speech has been jokingly described as “a one-liner,” but this Joycean stream of consciousness runs on—just the one sentence—for nearly three pages. After this effort, Lucky (who, after all, is now old) stumbles and collapses, exhausted.

The most common interpretation of the play is a religious one: Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for God (God-ot) to manifest himself, to explain what they are to do, to make sense of life. The two acts of the play take place over two succeeding days. Toward the end of each day, a child appears with a message from Godot. Mr. Godot will not be arriving that day, “but will surely come tomorrow.” There are many other possible interpretations, (and certainly, the more interpretations a piece of art inspires, the better the work): Freudian, political, existential, etc.

Beckett himself said, “Christianity is a mythology with which I am perfectly familiar, so I naturally use it.” But he perhaps uses it sarcastically or ironically. He was (as was his mentor James Joyce) also perfectly familiar with the vast store of Western mythology and literature, ancient and modern. He counted Buster Keaton among his pantheon of comic heroes.

Beckett wrote the original play in French in 1948–9 (En Attendant Godot) and called it “a tragi-comedy in two acts.” He later made his own translation into English. The first English production was in London in 1954. British censorship in the first productions required the removal of references to ‘farts’, ‘clap’ and urinating. A British reaction to Vladimir’s frequent need to urinate due to a prostrate problem was, “Such a dramatization of lavatory necessities is offensive and against all sense of British decency.”

The play is directed by Henry Vermillion and features an all-star cast including some familiar names and some surprises.

Theater
Impossible Marriage
Wed–Sat, July 25–28, 8pm
Sun, July 29, 3pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos

Henley play gives old topics a new twist of humor
By Rudy Hornish

Beth Henley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Crimes Of The Heart and many other successful plays, has a wonderful way with words. Especially when the words are spoken by her wonderfully quirky characters.

Crimes of The Heart, Henley’s first full-length play, was also the first drama to win a Pulitzer before going to Broadway, and the first to be awarded to a woman playwright since 1958. The screen version, written by Henley and starring Diane Keaton, Cissy Spacek and Jessica Lange, was also a major success.

Impossible Marriage centers around a trio of female characters, a mother and her two daughters. As preparations are being made for the upcoming marriage of the youngest daughter, the household is overrun with confusion, misunderstandings and unexpected confessions. Seems unremarkable, until you meet these unusual ladies and the genteel, nutty gentlemen who attend them.

This is, after all, Beth Henley, who draws her creative inspiration from the Deep South, a place where family ties are abiding, but where appearances often supersede true feeling. Against the good life punctuated with parties and celebrations, families still struggle with turmoil, especially relationships that appear to work but don’t. Henley’s themes are universal but her voice is distinct. And very, very funny.

Starring in the Players Workshop production of Impossible Marriage are seven San Miguel actors and actresses, several of whom appeared in last winter’s sellout success, Prelude To A Kiss. Nancy Kandal is the mother of the bride, Megan Pearson her eight-months pregnant daughter and Anna Bensaud as the bride-to-be. Michael Gottleib, Jim Newell, Nick Beles and Tim Johnson round out the cast as a deeply disturbed Reverend, an anxioius and much older groom-to-be, a young man on a mission with a gun and a narcissistic father-to-be who frequently refers to himself as “a very, very handsome man”, respectively.

If you’re already a Beth Henley fan, we’ll see you at the theater. If you’re not, then come see Impossible Marriage. You’ll soon become one.

Immediately following the performance there will be a wine and hors d’oeurves reception in the Santa Ana Café. The reception is included as a part of the opening night celebration.

Tickets are on sale in the patio of the Biblioteca from 10:30am until 1:30pm and between 4–7pm at the Santa Ana box office.

Theater
Anne Frank
Mon, July 31–Sat, Aug 4, 7:30pm
Sun, Aug 4, 3pm
Mon, Aug 5, 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
150 pesos (Opening night–250 pesos)

Anne Frank opening to benefit SPA
By Christine Foster

Anne Frank loved life and adored all animals. And so it is fitting that the opening night of The Diary of Anne Frank on July 31 will be a gala benefit for the Sociedad Protectora de Animales. The SPA is the only shelter in SMA, providing hope, health and loving homes for hundreds of cats and dogs in need.

This wonderful town is, thankfully, a stable place, one in which we have the time, resources and willingness to reach out to neglected children and animals, but in 1942 occupied Europe, it was a very different story.

When the Frank family received orders for Anne’s 16-year-old sister, Margot, to report for Judenstransport to a ‘work camp,’ the entire family went into hiding. They fled to a small suite of rooms above the Amsterdam warehouse from which Otto Frank had run a successful company until all Jewish businesses were confiscated.

His Dutch partners helped him prepare this Secret Annex. Entrance was via an office bookcase that concealed a small door. There was no exit for a grueling two years. When they finally did see the sun again, it was only as glimpses from box cars on the way to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.

Anne left a world of friendship, fresh air, gardens, games, a happy school life and her adored pet cat to be plunged into silence, fear and grinding monotony. Yet she dealt with the close confinement in a characteristically cheerful way, confiding to her diary about conflicts with her mother, homework and her growing crush on the boy, Peter, whose family was in hiding with them. Peter also brought his cat, Mouschi, with him, another source of joy for the irrepressible Anne.

Longing to be a real writer when she grew up and hearing on a radio broadcast that the government planned to collect diaries and letters for publication after the war, Anne was actively editing and rewriting her diary while in hiding with an eye to future publication. Little did she know.

Her father, Otto, the only surviving member of the Frank family, recovered both versions of the diary from their Dutch friends, edited them, and, using the fictitious names Anne herself had invented, published it in 1947 as The Secret Annex. The rest is history.

When Otto died in 1980, the diaries were submitted for scientific examination to verify their authenticity. Increasing numbers of people had begun to insist that the writings were just a little too good, too literate, for a girl of Anne’s age. The collection was soon declared authentic, and the rest of us became the grateful beneficiaries of her talent, her optimism and her determination to have a nearly normal life for as long as possible in the face of Nazi terror.

From what we have learned of Anne, she would have warmly approved of the work for the voiceless and innocent which charities like the SPA have undertaken. Why not make a date to see this great production and lend your extra support by booking your tickets for the opening night at the Teatro Santa Ana at 7:30 pm, July 31. The price is 250 pesos with all proceeds going to SPA. A catered reception and party in the Café Santa Ana following the show are included. Meet and mingle with everyone who has worked so hard to make this show an outstanding experience, including director Michael Whaley and actors Kokila Bryne, Gerry Camp, Flor Dengreville, Jill Gottlieb, Gwenneth Holmes, Tom King, Dennis McCarter, Istina Rubalcava, Seth Sharp, Henry Vermillion, Larry Gassler and Brad Fowler.

Tickets for the rest of the run of The Diary of Anne Frank are 150 pesos and are on sale now at the Casa de Papel on Mesones and the tienda at the Biblioteca. They can also be ordered from Michael Whaley at mikewhNY@aol.com.