Why Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot" has been Popular among Prisoners
AbstractThis paper aims at investigating the issues and reasons behind the wide popularity of the Drama Waiting for Godot among prisoners since its publication. The author will study the case of Rick Cluchey and make an outline of the topic in brief.
Introduction
The drama Waiting for Godot was written in 1948 in French language, first performed in 1953, and the English translation came out in 1955. This one of the most famous drama in English literature possesses significance for a very distinct issue: its popularity among prisoners. The prisoners found the meaning of the drama quite suitable and fruitful for their own lives. They were successfully able to connect the coded message of the drama with their own.
The story of its popularity has been described shortly in the narration below.
The Case of Rick Cluchey
On November 19 1957, when Rick Cluchey, a life sentenced prisoner for armed robbery and kidnapping, was locked in a cell in San Quentin Prison serving, members of the Actor’s Workshop from San Francisco performed Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in the prison’s massive dining hall.
Alan Mandell, the then company’s manager remarks that there were about 1,500 inmates there, but it was a pin fallen silent in the room. Herb Blau, the company’s principal director, had explained to the inmates that the play was about what we do while we are waiting—waiting for Godot—which for some people represents the end and nothingness; for others it may be God and salvation. He adds that he was able to make the prisoners understood about the theme of the play. The result was subsequent: prisoners were marking the play to be astounding with applause, scream and shout.
Cluchey was unable to see the performance as he was locked in his cell, but he managed to listen to it over the prison’s P.A. system. Being encouraged by the pay, in the subsequent months, Cluchey and a small group of inmates formed the San Quentin Drama Workshop. They asked for coaching to Alan Mandell. The first play staged by the fledgling company was Waiting for Godot. In 1957, Rick Cluchey performed the drama for inmates. He continued his work in the prison till 1966.
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| Why Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot" has been Popular among Prisoners |
With the aid of Mandell and Blau, Cluchey’s case came under review, and with due consideration, he was released on parole. In its new incarnation, outside the walls of San Quentin, the company flourished and gained particular notoriety for its productions of the plays of Samuel Beckett. Cluchey and Beckett had never met, but Beckett was well aware of the San Quentin Drama Workshop and its unusual relationship to his plays.
The incident of the production of Waiting for Godot by a cast of inmates from San Quentin Prison was studied in Godot in San Quentin (1987). It took the Producer and director of this film, John Reilly and a crew four weeks with the maximum-security facility to conduct rehearsal and performance sequences intercut with footage of daily prison life and discussions with the principal characters.
Cluchey made his historical remarks about the drama to Los Angeles Times that while the rest of the world had trouble to understand the message of the drama, but everyone in San Quentin understood it.
Conclusion
To cut a long story short, the drama Waiting for Godot chiefly acted by two characters: Didi and Gogo made its appeal to the prisoners for various reasons including the structure, dialogue, stage, and finally the theme or the message. The drama symbolizes that the meaning of life is mere waiting for “Godot”.
Who else will realize the hardship of waiting other than the prisoners?
Works Cited
Beckett's prison protege: the inmate who became a top interpreter of writer's work, 2016, thegurdian.com
Samuel Beckett in Prison, Farber J, 2016, centertheatregroup.org
Waiting for Godot at San Quentin, 2016, Jackson S, the goodmanproject.com
When 'Waiting for Godot' played San Quentin, 2003, www.sfgate.com
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