WAITING FOR GODOT Plays Amun Ra Theatre, 4//2 - 5/9

Hot on the heels of the Nashville premiere of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Amun Ra Theatre shows no sign of slowing down its pace this season as it prepares to tackle Samuel Beckett's absurdist classic Waiting For Godot, directed by guest artist Robert Kiefer and starring a virtual "who's who" of ART Ensemble members.

Waiting For Godot, the second show in ART's 2010 "The Future Is Now Season," opens April 22 and runs through May 9 at the Amun Ra Theatre Playhouse, 2508 Clifton Avenue.

Beckett is considered the founder of absurdist drama and Godot - written by the Irish-born poet, playwright, and novelist when he was 40-years-old - was first performed in Paris in 1953. Subsequent productions in Europe and New York exploded the play onto the national stage and eventually helped Beckett win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. 

In the play, two hobos - Vladimir and Estragon - wait along a desolate road for salvation from someone named Godot. They apparently have been acquainted for years and they banter back and forth during an endless wait that leads them to conversations on memories, existence, even suicide. While they wait, they encounter Pozzo and his slave Lucky, whose presence brings some pause to their endless wait.

Alternately described as "brilliant," and "baffling," Waiting For Godot is a classic of Western theater, and being performed by a primarily African-American company is a challenge founding artistic director Jeff Obafemi carr welcomes with open arms: "This is why we're doing this play, frankly. As African-American artists, we often find ourselves in a strange conundrum. We are trained more in Western forms of acting, directing, even writing, than African ones; we have to study and master Sophocles to Shakespeare, Voltaire to Tennessee Williams to be certified as bona fide, even though we have very few real chances to ever act out those roles on the professional stage. Most attempts at being 'multi-cultural' or 'non-racial' as it pertains to Western classics require so much suspension of disbelief from an audience that it becomes a distraction. With Godot, I saw an opportunity to pull together a community of artists who could tell a story of significance that is at once exhilarating and intimidating.  We ain't scared over on Clifton Avenue."

Any fear of pulling off the beast that is Waiting For Godot is eased by the stellar group of diverse professionals assembled for the task, beginning with long-time Nashville theatre and film veteran, Robert Kiefer, whose experience with Beckett goes back to his graduate school days.

"The first time I read Waiting For Godot, I had no idea what it was about. Forty-one years later I can confidently say that I still don't know what it is about," Kiefer explains.

"That having been said, I do know more about the play. For Samuel Beckett, Waiting For Godot is a metaphor for the seemingly endless walk he took when he escaped from Paris after serving in the French Resistance during World War II. He and a friend walked for several hundred kilometers to reach a place of safety. They walked by night and slept by day in haystacks, under trees or even in ditches. When they reached a place of safety, their days became the same, waiting for the War to come to an end so they could return to their life in Paris. This took three years of his life, three years when he could have been writing. I don't believe that he ever forgave life for allowing the War to happen and for losing all of those years. But, when asked what Waiting For Godot was about, his answer was always the same; he would simply shrug his shoulders."

Kiefer's directorial skills range from The James Dean Thing to Macbeth, not including his film work, which can be found in the movies The Green Mile and Cast Away.

When asked how he felt about directing a production with such a meaning, Kiefer simply said, "I feel no pressure to keep an audience interested in a production on behalf of the theater. My job and my responsibilities are to the script, the actors, the designers, the Art and to me, to do my best as a director. If I accomplish that, the audience will be interested."

The multi-racial cast includes: David Chattam and Joel Diggs as Vladimir and Estragon, respectively, reunited onstage from last season's world premiere drama Like It Was The Last Day. Mark J. Thomas portrays Pozzo, after appearing in last season's opener Gem of The Ocean. Elliott Robinson, whom audiences will remember from Gem of The Ocean and Before The People Came, portrays Lucky.

Rounding out the cast is 12-year-old Kemon Blanton, a member of ART's Youth Performing ARTs Academy, who recently appeared in Black Nativity. 

Set Design duties will be handled by staff artist Mike Mucker, with costumes by ensemble member Vera Warrick.

Godot follows on the heels of a highly-anticipated production of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, adapted by playwright Lydia Diamond. The first show of the 2010 Season broke previous records for pre-sale tickets, group sales, and attendance.

"Nashville is responding well to what we are doing in North Nashville," carr says. "Maybe it's because we're unique in our history [ART remains the first - and only - African-American not-for-profit, professional theater institution with its own facility], but more than that, I believe it's because we are pushing the envelope and doing edgy work.

"Nashville has evolved so much over just the last 10 years. I meet people at shows who have moved here from all over the world. So we owe it to a diverse group of audience members to broaden our offerings while continuing to pour our hearts into the work. I promise people all the time, when you come to the theater at ART, you're going to have a special experience. It's better than I-Max in 3-D. I call it 'Theatre-Max 4-D, where the actors actually come alive in front of you.'"

Waiting for Godot contains adult themes and humor. Parental discretion is advised. Performances will be staged at the Amun Ra Theatre Playhouse, located at 2508 Clifton Avenue, the first performance venue in Nashville owned and operated by a professional African American theatre company in more than 100 years. The 50-seat black box theater features a box office, dressing rooms, administrative office, storage and a lobby/lounge.

Tickets are $15 and may be purchased online at brownpapertickets.com or by phone at (800) 838-3006. For more information, call (615) 329-4228. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m., except for Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. All Sunday matinees feature a post-show forum with the cast.

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