The 1953 Samuel Beckett classic “Waiting for Godot” has had a long wait for its premiere Thursday (10/22) at Moline’s Black Box Theatre. But it’s perfect for a pandemic-plagued 2020.
Directed by local theater veteran Mike Schulz (an Augustana College alum), they started rehearsals in May, as a partnership between QC Theatre Workshop and Mississippi Bend Players. A plan to do the mainly two-person play outside at a pavilion behind Brunner Theatre Center was shelved, and it’s now going up independently at the Black Box with a maximum audience of 26 – masks are required – and actors wearing clear face shields.
“Godot” stars two 2020 Augustana College graduates and close friends - Peter Alfano as Estragon and Tristan Odenkirk as Vladimir - and this is Alfano’s first involvement in a Quad-Cities theatre production outside of college.
“It was strange, because at the very beginning, it was a project we didn’t know if it
was going to happen or not. We were meeting up every once in a while, working on some scenes, for the fun of it at the time. We always knew, because it’s Mike Schulz, he was gonna get it up. He was gonna find a way.”
“I love the idea of going outside, but once we got in the Black Box, it just seemed meant to be. It’s a really nice stage; it’s perfect for how we’re staging it, and it’s nice to be inside when it’s gonna be cold out, you know?”
Alfano says having the actors wear clear face shields took some getting used to.
“It’s become second nature for sure, but at the beginning, having a face shield in front of you while you’re trying to act is different. It causes a little bit of an echo, coming right back at you, ‘cause you’re just talking into a plastic screen pretty much. For me, after the first two lines, I forget it’s there. I’ve been told by anyone who’s been in the audience that they forget about it right away. So it’s worth it, and it doesn’t seem to cause a problem.”
And he says “Godot,” in which not much happens, has been adaptable over time and is relatable right now.
“It was perfect – just two college kids who got stuck together in the quarantine and they’ve been roommates forever, and it feels like it’s never gonna end."
“There are certain parts of it that are really light-hearted and there are parts that are super sad and dramatic in the show, and I think it’s gonna relate to a lot of people in the audience. At the end, hopefully they take away, there’s gonna be a happy ending to this, as long as you have somebody with you, you can get through anything.”
In the story, the wandering vagabonds wait by a barren tree to meet with a Mr. Godot, in a world that combines slapstick and anguish, where time, place, and memory are blurred.
Odenkirk, who’s done plays with the QC Theatre Workshop before, agrees how timely it is.
“It’s so perfectly constructed; it’s a play in which nothing happens, twice. And that was the reality of our situation a couple months ago. Leading up to the election, obviously, it’s been a pretty eventful couple weeks. But when this whole pandemic started, it was just us trying to stay in our home, and everything was just the same every day.”
“In our production, it’s that friendship of, when the pandemic starts, you have that little pod of people, two or three people you’re allowed to see every day, and that became what this show was. This idea of, as long as I have this other person, it doesn’t really matter how long I’m waiting or how bored I get, because we have each other to spend the time with.”
The play is more meaningful for the men to perform together, forced by the pandemic to wait for their future to start. Odenkirk planned to move to Chicago after graduation.
“We have pretty great chemistry and it just feels very natural.”
The rest of the cast, also from Augustana, includes Brandon Smith (another 2020 grad) and current senior Jarod Kovach as Pozzo and Lucky.
The performances at 1623 5th Avenue, in Moline, will be at 7:30 p.m. this weekend October 22-24, and next, October 29-31. Tickets are $13 Thursdays, and $16 for the rest, available at theblackboxtheatre.com.
