Theatre review: Waiting for Godot, Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Druid’s staging of Beckett’s pre-eminent classic was the actors’ idea, and, looking at the play, it’s easy to see why it seemed like a good idea to Aaron Monaghan, Garrett Lombard, Marty Rea, and Rory Nolan. 

They are an experienced ensemble, whose familiarity with one another is telling. Their suitability to their roles, however, is varied.

Nolan’s Pozzo is a triumph. He is an hysterical monster, yes, but when he delivers iconically Beckettian lines (such as “They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night again”) with an existential howl, we can feel his pain. Lombard, meanwhile, rises to the unique challenges of playing Lucky, without perhaps transcending them.