For their 60th season performance schedule, DramaTech Theater has listed two plays for the momentous occasion: The Valiant and Waiting for Godot.
The Valiant is a story of an unknown young man waiting on death row, keeping his identity hidden from everyone. A potential relative, a young woman claiming that he bears a resemblance to her older brother, appears the very night he is to be executed. What she has to say may yet shed revealing light upon this man and finally resolve his earthly affairs. Will it make his passing easier? Will it change the outcome of his life to restitute another’s tribulations before he is gone from this world? These questions will run through your mind as you sit in suspense for the conclusion of the story. As a touch of nostalgia, this was also the very first play performed in DramaTech’s first season.
Waiting for Godot is a touch more obtuse in its allegory, but it has many more humorous moments laced within its tragic story. When the lights first hit the stage, two men of slight means are revealed near a single tree on the grass. The waiting for Godot (a wealthy man who holds their salvation) begins. Their day is filled with nothing but the continuing hope that Godot will soon come. As the day progresses with nothing to occupy their minds, the two men, Vladimir and Estragon, soon wonder why they wait at all, but many impressions and comic situations occur when locals intrude upon their lengthy wait for this mysterious benefactor. Samuel Beckett, author of this work, truly took the time to flesh out each character to represent facets of man. I believe that this dramatic precision is the reason DramaTech chose this piece to complete the couple and fill this season’s position that would have been chosen by the late Greg Abbot, the former DramaTech artistic director, to whom the show was dedicated.
If you are looking to immerse your creative receptors in something a bit more left-brained than the normal fare at Tech, this season’s DramaTech performances are definitely a must see.