Peasedown St John dramatist is still waiting for Godot

By Harry Mottram:

In an age of sexual equality it may come as a surprise to learn that Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot is off limits for women.

By Harry Mottram:

It was 1978 and there was an exhibition of surrealism at the Hayward Gallery in London and a school boy in Derbyshire studying A-level History of Art bought a train ticket and headed south.

“It was unmissable,” said Jonathan Davis of Bath, “It was so exciting , new and fresh and was really interested in DaDa and the surrealists.”

Retired graphic designer Jonathan Davis (pictured) is the chairman of the Friends of the Holburne Museum, an organisation that plays a supporting roll in championing the exhibitions, the various engagement programmes and events as well as organising fund raising events such as concerts.

The Grade 1 listed building dates to 1794, when it was initially a hotel, then a boarding house a home and finally a museum and an art gallery. The heart of the present-day collection was formed by Sir Thomas William Holburne (1793–1874) but as Jonathan says today the gallery ‘punches above its weight.’

“I was lucky to be able to retire and move to Bath ten years ago from London as Bath was a no brainer,” he said, “In London I supported the Tate, The National

Gallery, The Dulwich and all the museums and so when we moved to Bath we supported the Museum of East Asian Art and the Holburne as it seemed a good thing to do. In 2015 I joined the Friends of the Holburne committee as they sent out a questionnaire seeking new members. I got the job of writing the newsletter.”

The Friends at the time was a separate charity but since then the Friends have merged with the Holburne as a single charity in line

“In the last three or so years the number of friends has grown, especially since we introduced charging for entry,” he said, “people think if they visit several times a year they might as well join so they don’t have to pay the entrance fee.”

He said the quality of the exhibitions which were ‘world class’ had also attracted new members citing the Tudors and the Rodin –Degas: Impressionist Sculpture exhibitions as recent examples.

Members get free entry to the Museum and exhibitions for an annual fee of £40 or £60 for a joint fee and they have access to events, activities and trips to other museums - and there’s an undeniable social side which attracts many people. Plus there is the annual plant sale in May, and a concert on the of 2023. Details on the website.

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The Beckett Estate forbids the inclusion of women in the cast which centres around two tramps Vladimir and Estragon who spend the drama discussing life in general as they wait for the titular character who never appears.

At least three other characters come and go - but all must be male decreed by the late author - on pain of legal action - which in the past has occurred.

For Darian Nelson of Bath’s Playing Up Theatre Company though, the main attraction of the play is its simplicity of staging as there are no scene changes and it features a small cast.

“I saw the Sean Mathias production with Sir Ian McKellen as Estragon and Sir Patrick Stewart as Vladimir, and was blown away,” said Darian, “It’s a play that works best as a double act as the two play off each other and those two had such good chemistry.

Darian Nelson of Bath’s Playing Up Theatre Company been gender flipped in the past to great acclaim.

“Waiting for Godot is our next production in May at the Mission Theatre but when you do any Beckett play there is a thing called the Beckett clause which is very strict - it forbids women from appearing in Waiting For Godot “I know of some females who have gone their own way and staged it but did it at their own risk.” Recently there was a production in Somerset called Godot Was A Woman that lampooned the playwright’s decision to exclude women. It seems absurd as plays from Julius Caesar to Peter Pan have

This year is the 20th anniversary of the theatre group Playing Up - it was formed by a small troupe of friends after a production they had been part of at the Rondo Theatre.

Over a bottle of wine Darian Nelson, Anne Hipperson, Sophie Brooks and JP Christian decided to create their own company. Since then the group have staged many classics of the theatre - often with an eye on the school curriculum as staging a play that students are studying puts ‘bums on seats.’

It’s fitting for Darian as a former marketing man and later a teacher as like all non-professional companies there’s a balance to be hit in producing favourite plays and being commercial.

“We produce two or three plays a year of quality and because we’ve worked locally we have a lot of contacts,” he said.

“The auditions are open and new people often approach us and will approach people we know if we have a particular play in mind.

“We’ve worked with outside directors, the company is not a club, and there are no subs - all we expect is for the cast to buy a script and turn up.”

It’s a formula that’s worked well over the years with shows including The Government Inspector by Gogol last year and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata previously and their inaugural production back in 2003 of Waiting for Godot in 2003.

Waiting for Godot runs at the Mission Theatre from Tuesday 9th – Saturday 13th May 7:30pm nightly.