Waiting for Godot

Samuel Beckett

English translation.
Original Language: French

Tragicomedy in two acts by Samuel Beckett, published in 1952 in French as En attendant Godot and first produced in 1953. Waiting for Godot was a true innovation in drama and the Theater of the Absurd's first theatrical success. The play consists of conversations between Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting for the arrival of the mysterious Godot, who continually sends word that he will appear but who never does. They encounter Lucky and Pozzo, they discuss their miseries and their lots in life, they consider hanging themselves, and yet they wait. Often perceived as being tramps, Vladimir and Estragon are a pair of human beings who do not know why they were put on earth; they make the tenuous assumption that there must be some point to their existence, and they look to Godot for enlightenment. Because they hold out hope for meaning and direction, they acquire a kind of nobility that enables them to rise above their futile existence. From The Merriam–Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

A classic of modern theatre and perennial favorite of colleges and high schools. "One of the most noble and moving plays of our generation…suffused with tenderness for the whole human perplexity…like a sharp stab of beauty and pain." —The London Times