WAITING FOR GODOT to Kick Off Counter-Productions Theatre Company's 2017-18 Season

Counter-Productions Theatre Company begins its 2017/2018 season with Samuel Beckett's absurdist comedic masterpiece, Waiting for Godot.

The play tells the story of two world-weary men, Vladimir and Estragon, as they linger on a barren roadside, awaiting the arrival of the mysterious Godot. It's not clear why they wait for him, although they seek an answer to an unspoken question. They'd rather not be there. They want to move on. Still they wait. And wait. And wait.

"When I first read Waiting for Godot for a college Intro to Theater class a couple of decades ago," reflects Director Valerie Remillard, "it made no sense to me. Unlike the plays of Ibsen, Shaw and Miller, whom I had been reading voluntarily since I was twelve, there was no traditional story line to this piece. I rejected it instantly. It made me mad. Infected me.... I couldn't stop thinking about it. "

"One year later, I read Waiting for Godot once again for a different college class and noticed things that I hadn't before, not the least of which was the deep, universal humanity of the two wanderers. The familiar inertia of two people who crave change so desperately but who are too stymied to achieve it. The diligent effort and toll of maintaining hope in an environment in which you feel, in your mind or in reality, that you are out of control of your circumstances. For me, Waiting for Godot mirrors the often-circular struggles humans have with addiction, illness, unemployment, co-dependence, depression or any other veritable or ideological imprisonment.This piece allows me to reflect on the complicated connection we share with those who cross our path in this life, particularly during challenging times, and especially those who repeatedly cross our paths irrespective of our invitation to do so."

"After 60 years' worth of productions, the play continues to resonate," says CPTC's Artistic Director Ted Clement, "transcending the period it was written in. It asks daring questions about the purpose of existence, and it does so in a genuinely hilarious way."

Waiting for Godot runs from October 20th to the 29th at AS220's Black Box Theatre. This "greatest of 20th-century plays" (New York Times) features Geoff Leatham as Estragon, Dan Fisher as Vladimir, Steven Zailskas as Pozzo, Stevie Smith as Lucky, and Connor Remillard Myette as The Boy.

Performances play AS220's Black Box Theatre, 95 Empire Street, Providence, RI, October 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th at 7:00pm and October 22nd, 29th at 2:00pm. Admission is $20 at www.cptcri.com or by calling (401) 419-2205.