Godot Is a Woman

A response to the patriarchal restrictions of the performance rights of Samuel Beckett’s work might sound like a niche intellectual exercise, but Godot is a Woman – devised and written by Cordelia Stevenson, Josie Underwood and Jack Wakely – makes a convincing case for a theatrical appeal that isn’t limited to Beckett experts, relishing in an unashamedly geeky sense of humour.

A trio of performers of great charm and wit, one non-binary and two female (Wakely, Underwood and Cara Withers), are prohibited from performing in their favourite play. In light of the Beckett estate’s predilection for lawsuits, they act out what it would be to play them at their own game.

Director Laura Killeen employs a slow start, reflecting the play itself, as the trio kill time while on hold with the Beckett estate, before employing song and dance and a diagram of the prostate to assess whether the issue is waiting or weeing.

Designer Frances Gibson pays homage to the bleak landscape of the original and Rachel Gammon dresses the performers in the tramp garb that has become iconic. Ellie Isherwood provides an effectively neurotic sound design that reflects the agony of being kept on hold (in multiple senses) indefinitely.

Ultimately, ‘It’s what the author wanted’ isn’t a good enough reason to keep art in a state of stasis without acknowledging societal changes. One hopes that the Beckett estate realises they’re the ones missing out by excluding the talent of those who don’t happen to be cis men.