Review: WAITING FOR GODOT, The Crucible, Sheffield, 8 Feb 2016

Sheffield Theatres' associate director Charlotte Gwinner returns to directing duties at the Crucible with Waiting For Godot. This version of Samuel Beckett's classic features a stark, yet somewhat beautiful set from designer Simon Daw that sits on the boundary between art and nature; life and death; beauty and terror - a visual metaphor for many of the themes of the play.

In the lead roles are veteran actors Lorcan Cranitch as Vladimir and Jeff Rawle as Estragon, with Richard Cordery and Bob Goody taking the roles of Pozzo and Lucky and the part of the boy being shared by Toby Allwood and William Oxley. Each of them gives a great performance, with Rawle completely transformed into a character far distant from the two roles he is perhaps best known for playing - harassed journalist George in Drop the Dead Donkey and sophisticated serial killer Silas in Hollyoaks. Here, he gives a funny, yet incredibly human and touching performance - his Estragon earning our sympathies even when he perhaps doesn't deserve them in his treatment of the other characters.

Cranitch's Vladimir is weary, yet still hopeful, resourceful and grumpily tender, whilst Cordery relishes in Pozzo's pomposity and overbearing nature. Goody's Lucky is perhaps a more eccentric take on the character than in some performances and his long spindly limbs, long white hair and pinstripe suit a very striking look. His monologue, full of breathless energy, earned a rapturous round of applause.

I have been somewhat spoiled in that the last time I saw a production of Godot, it was with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Simon Callow - and the relationship between Estragon and Vladimir there was electric, played by two long friends whose chemistry and camaraderie infused everything. It took me a while to warm to the characters' relationship in the Sheffield Theatres' production as the married-couple-like bickering and banter of the McKellen/Stewart partnership (not something easily replicated!) wasn't so present here - but as the production drew on, I realised that the way the relationship between Vladimir and Estragon was being portrayed here was very different - but no less compelling, particularly in the second half. In the hands of Cranitch, Rawle and director Gwinner, we see another interpretation. These are less two lifetime best friends, more two random souls whose journeys have somehow intertwined and who have thus developed a kind of brotherly love for each other whilst each still tries to maintain the idea that he is an island whose relationship with the other is a mere matter of coincidence and convenience. As the play develops, both drop their guard more and their true care for one another - and need of one another - is revealed.

This production of Waiting For Godot is not especially ground-breaking or novel in its approach - but it is a very well-acted and beautifully designed version that is sure to please both those familiar to the play and those coming at it afresh.

Waiting for Godot is at the Crucible, Sheffield, until 27 Feb.

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