The wait is over for Independent Players' pandemic-delayed 'Godot'

After having its production of "The Government Inspector" shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, Independent Players is returning to the Elgin Art Showcase with its production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" for two weekends, Sept. 24-26 and Oct. 1-3.

Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 1 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $20, $15 for senior citizens and students (14 and older). Purchase online at www.independentplayers.org or at the door (cash or check only).

"Waiting for Godot" was tentatively scheduled to be produced in May of 2020, but after these many months, it will finally be seen, but under very different circumstances. Because most people have been and still are looking ahead in time and speculating when their lives will return to what they knew as "normal," they, like the two tramps in the play, are waiting.

Theater scholar Martin Esslin wrote: "The subject of the play is not Godot but waiting - the act of waiting as an essential and characteristic aspect of the human condition. "

"Waiting for Godot" does not tell a story; it explores a static situation. This makes it very different from what one normally experiences when one attends a play because most plays have a plot. The two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, have opposing temperaments that cause them to bicker endlessly. But because their natures are complementary, they are dependent on each other and, therefore, have to stay together.

Pozzo and Lucky are equally complementary, but their relationship is more primitive. Pozzo is the master, Lucky is his slave. Pozzo is rich, powerful and overly sure of himself; he represents worldly man in his facile and shortsighted optimism and illusory feeling of power and permanence. Lucky carries his luggage and thinks for him; he even taught him all the higher values of life such as beauty, grace and truth. Pozzo and Lucky represent the relationship between the body and the mind, the material and spiritual sides of man, with the intellect subordinate to the appetites of the body.

The production is directed by Dan Scott and the cast consists of Steve Connell, Brad Davidson, Steve Delaney, Dorothea Delaney and Dan Scott. The production is partially sponsored by a grant from the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission.

All audience members are required to wear masks in the theater at all times and to show proof of being fully vaccinated or having tested negative for the virus. Independent Players is requiring these steps because it wants to make sure the actors and audience alike remain safe and well after attending this production.

The Elgin Art Showcase is at 164 Division St., eighth floor. For information, visit Independent Players' website, email independentplayers322@gmail.com or call (847) 697-7374 or (847) 828-5602.