Godot, Wer Is U? / Caces, Sipin recitals

The Irish dramatist Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot in English, later translating it into French for Paris audiences. According to Studs Terkel, when the play was staged in the US in the 50s, critics wrote: "How dare you? This is horrible, loathesome, dirty; this is a hoax, a fake, a fraud. How could you perpetrate this on the great American public?" Walter Winchell claimed he wouldn’t soil his mouth reporting on the play. In Miami, more than half of the audience left before the play was over.

Perhaps because Waiting for Godot has no formal structure or development which a conventional play would have. Further, the conversation among the tramps Vladimir and Estragon and the passersby Pozzo and Lucky is minimal and meandering, seemingly getting nowhere. The only clear thing to the audience is that the two tramps – or clowns – are waiting for Godot.

One viewer called the play "Communistic, atheistic, existentialist." But playwrights Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee loved the play. And the inmates of San Quentin Prison heartily applauded it because they could relate to it, their lives consisting mainly of waiting: for the guards to open their prison cells, for food, for visitors, etc.

Now the play is considered one of the greatest in the past century, a watershed, a milestone in theater marking the start of a playwriting era.

When Waiting for Godot – renamed Godot, Wer Is U? – was staged at the CCP Little Theater as part of French Spring, it was in Pilipino, as translated by George de Jesus III and its setting was a realistic slum area in Manila near the railroad tracks. Vladimir lives in a shack which he keeps tidy; Estragon, who lives God-knows-where, visits him daily.

Viewers warmed up to the play immediately for its vivid and humorous dialogue (The original in English is regarded as dramatic poetry). Further, the theme of waiting is universal, though early American audiences did not grasp it. Daily, we wait for something concrete  – a book, a letter, a lover. Or intangible – hope, happiness, relief from pain.

Vladimir and Estragon meet Pozzo and Lucky who are passing by on a motorcycle. Pozzo personifies the oppressor; Lucky, a rope tied around his neck, the oppressed. They later exchange roles to prove the impermanence of power. In the course of the play, truisms are pronounced: "For everyone who laughs, another one cries; Justice will ultimately prevail; Man is naturally good." Yet the sorry state of the characters contradicts the truisms.

Another audience might have concluded that Godot is God who will not ever come; man then must act on his own and help himself.

What actually prevails is the absurdity of the situation, and the misery of the human condition. The little boy Totoy, an apparent angel in disguise, offers a glimmer of hope. He says: "Godot can’t come today." (But perhaps, tomorrow?)

The Frenchman Alain Timar did a magnificent directorial job. Although the play was in a foreign language, he captured its essence and spirit. Actors Paolo O’Hara (Vladimir), Bong Cabrera (Estragon), Paolo Rodriguez (Pozzo) and Cris Pasturan (Lucky) were excellent, each infusing into his respective role gripping realism. The long monologue of Cris as the autistic Lucky was a masterpiece of stuttering incoherence. Mark Gil Bacea as Totoy was totally endearing.

In sum, the RP-French interaction was marvelously compelling.

* * *

On July 7 at 7:30 p.m. in F. Santiago Hall, Aries Caces will give a recital of Mozart works to mark the composer’s 250th birth anniversary, and six Paganini etudes transcribed by Liszt.

Caces’ first piano lessons under his mother were continued at the UST Conservatory under Ernestina Crisologo and Bernardino Custodio. In 1982, he was NAMCYA first prize winner, and runner-up in the MSO Concerto tilt.

From 1986 to 1993, he was under world-renowned pianist Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna’s Hochscule, obtaining his "Diplom" and master’s degree under Roland Keller. He also studied chamber music, receiving his "Diplom" in conducting in Vienna under Uros Lajovic.

Caces has concertized in major European cities and the US. In 1989 he was soloist in Vienna’s Musikverein, and was awarded the Prix Decouverte in the 1991 International Festival in Le Tourquet, France. He was soloist of the Hannover Chamber Orchestra and the PPO on its first European tour.

On July 8 at 8 p.m. in F. Santiago Hall, Carmencita Sipin-Aspiras will interpret works by Fauré, Schumann, Chopin and Mozart for the benefit of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines.

At six, she studied under her mother, continuing under Juan Bañez of the UP Conservatory. At 11, she was soloist in Mozart’s Concerto in D Minor; at 17, she played concertos by Mozart, Chopin and Prokofiev for her bachelor’s degree at the PWU College of Music under Lucrecia Kasilag.

After studies at the Vienna State Academy (now the Vienna Music U.), she gave a debut in Vienna which drew high praise from its leading daily, as did her performance in Stuttgart from the major German daily.

Aspiras has recorded for Austrian and German networks. She is a regular recitalist in Palo Alto for Neighbors Abroad which promotes international understanding.