Staging Godot: An Actor, an Academic, and a Director in Conversation

Vancouver, BC– Blackbird Theatre and Vancouver Public Library present Staging Godot, a free event and panel discussion on mounting Samuel Beckett's profound comedic masterpiece Waiting for Godot. The event will take place on December 5 at 7pm in the Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye room at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch. The panel will include Blackbird Theatre Artistic Director John Wright, actor Simon Webb, and former UBC Head of Theatre and Associate Dean of Arts Errol Durbach, who will share thoughts, insights, and opinions on staging the groundbreaking work.

“Waiting for Godot is a revolutionary work that redefined the conventions of theatre,” said John Wright, Artistic Director of Blackbird Theatre. “After almost 60 years of continuous performances around the world it still commands the stage, inspiring and confounding, bringing laughter and tears, and enriching our appreciation of human culture.”

The iconic modern classic Waiting for Godot received its world premiere at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris in 1953. First performed in English in 1955, Beckett's masterwork exploded onto the London stage shocking as many people as it delighted.

The play has earned particular notoriety for the vast number of interpretations and meanings ascribed to it by critics, academics, and artists, who have variously argued the work is about religion, communism, Freudian psychology, Jungian psychology, and existentialism. Despite the heated speculation, Beckett remained fairly silent about Godot during his lifetime, with the few cryptic comments he did make only fueling further debate.

Approaching a work of such reputation and significance places distinct demands on actors, directors, and interpreters – demands that may not be present in other works. In the ‘Staging Godot’ discussion, the panel will converse on the challenges unique to their area of expertise, and how they have overcome such challenges as they prepare for Blackbird Theatre’s upcoming staging of Waiting for Godot at the Cultch. Attendees will enjoy a thought-provoking evening providing unique insight into the professional craft of actors, directors, and theatre scholars, gaining new appreciation for Samuel Beckett’s incomparable masterpiece.


This free event is held in lead-up to Blackbird Theatre’s production of Waiting for Godot, running December 27, 2011 to January 21, 2012 at The Cultch.

About Blackbird Theatre Company(www.blackbirdtheatre.ca)

A classic play is a human fable that time does not invalidate.

Established in 2005, Blackbird Theatre Company draws its inspiration from the great playwrights of the ancient and modern worlds, and from the community in which we live.

Blackbird’s plays are chosen for the brilliance of their dramatic and comedic achievements as well as their relevance to contemporary life. Presentation of these classic works has brought the company to prominence throughout the Lower Mainland theatre community.

Blackbird Theatre is regularly honoured by the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, including wins for Outstanding Production in 2007 for Peer Gynt and in 2008 for The Triumph of Love. The company garnered six Jessie nominations for the 2009 interpretation of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Altogether Blackbird Theatre has received 27 nominations and seven awards in the company’s short seven-year lifetime.


About Vancouver Public Library (www.vpl.ca)

Funded by the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with over 373,000 cardholders and more than 9 million items borrowed annually. Today, with exceptional collections, services and technologies offered at 22 branches and an extensive virtual library, VPL is accessible to all citizens of Vancouver.

Blackbird Theatre
5115 Keith Road
West Vancouver
V7W 2M9

Media Contact:
Laura Murray
Laura Murray Public Relations
(604) 558-2200
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This release was published on openPR.