During the 1953 world premiere of Samuel Beckett’s absurd masterpiece, Waiting for Godotat the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris, the curtain came down about 40 minutes into the first act as audience members booed and booed in derision. While critics embraced the play, it sold few tickets for its American debut tour three years later in Washington and Philadelphia, prompting it to move to the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami for a two-week run, with Bert Lahr and Tom Ewell. Promoted as “the laughing sensation of two continents”, it was met with bewilderment by tourists and described as a play where nothing happens. The reaction was so predictable that taxi drivers waited outside the theater for those who left early. Unsurprisingly, the New York engagement was called off.

“Nothing happens, that’s the thing. It will be interesting to see, when we put this in front of an audience for the first time, how they react. It’s fun to make an audience uncomfortable because it makes them lean in and pay attention,” he says Aasif Mandvi who plays Estragon opposite Rainn Wilson as Vladimir in the new Geffen Playhouse production running from November 6 to December 16. It is directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett and stars her husband Conor Lovett as well as Adam Stein.

On a country road near a leafless tree, the tramps Estragon and Vladimir await an enigmatic figure named Godot. In time, they are met by Pozzo (Lovett), who assaults his servant, Lucky (Stein). Later, a boy (Lincoln Bonilla/Jack McSherry), who works as a keeper for Godot, informs him that his boss is not coming and that he will be waiting for him tomorrow. The second act unfolds similarly, inspiring Irish critic Vivian Mercier’s view that it is a play in which “nothing happens, twice”.

Over the decades, the play has been catnip for actors, attracting such notables as Robin Williams and Steve Martin, who were directed by Mike Nichols in a lauded Lincoln Center production in the 1980s. In 2007, Broadway veteran Wendell Pierce played Waiting for Godot in New Orleans’ 9th Ward to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. There was also a 2013 Broadway production starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. Next year, another new production will feature the stars Bill and Ted’s Excellent AdventureKeanu Reeves and Alex Winter.

The play’s lack of conventional dramatic elements such as plot, pacing, and character arcs leaves room for the actors and directors, resulting in a theatrical Rorschach test. It can be interpreted as a political play about the tyranny of the ruling class or a philosophical drama about humanity’s place in the universe. It may be a study of friendship, futility, and the frustration of existence, or it may be none of these things, a conundrum to which Beckett replied, “Why people must complicate something so simple I cannot see.”

“Is it God? May be. Is it about capitalism? May be. Is it about the powerful versus the powerless? May be. It is all of these,” offers Mandvi, who is best known for his work as “senior Muslim correspondent” at The daily show. Winner of an Obie Award for his individual performance, Sakina Restaurantworked with acclaimed director Trevor Nunn and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner. “It’s not about analyzing it. Beckett doesn’t give you any of the traditional things that actors need, like who, where, why or what. You can invent yourself, and that’s liberating.”

Wilson was an indelible presence and three-time Emmy nominee as scheming regional manager Dwight Schrute on the hit series The office. Before that, he studied theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and worked extensively off-Broadway, including debuting in a production of Shakespeare in the Park Twelfth Night.

“I would compare it to Hamlet in that it has a universal, timeless quality,” says Wilson. “You can see a thousand different Hamlets and you will see a thousand different interpretations. You can see a thousand different Godots and it will be different. I have a line in act two where I say, “In a moment, everything will be gone and we’ll be alone in the middle of nowhere again.” It could be a creepy line that really touches someone’s heart, or you can give it a spin and they’d be hysterical and laughing because it’s crazy over the top.”

Hegarty Lovett directed 19 Beckett productions for Gare St Lazare Ireland, an Irish theater company founded by Lovett and her husband, who are recognized leaders in staging Beckett’s plays and non-dramatic prose texts. In 2006, he directed all seven of Beckett’s plays, and in 2021, he directed a six-hour film of Beckett’s novel. How is it.

“A lot of the guidance I’ve gotten from her is to just let it be,” says Mandvi. “He understands pacing and how humor and language work. It also allowed Rainn and I to discover this piece through our lens, as two individuals coming at it with our own interpretation.”

Wilson is amazed by his director’s expertise on Beckett and finds her to be a deep reservoir of knowledge. He calls Godot the biggest acting test he ever passed. “She was very open to us, playing, exploring, discovering. But for her it is very important that the words are spoken clearly, that they are spoken with rhythm and tempo and honored as they should be. But the challenges are huge, both physically and emotionally. Sometimes the language is incredibly poetic, and sometimes it’s as common as you’d hear on the streets of Los Angeles today, and sometimes it’s this crazy non-sequitur stuff, and you’re like, ‘What the hell am I talking about?'”

Wilson first encountered the play as a student at the University of Washington, where he did a scene with a classmate named Holiday Reinhorn, who later became his wife. “It’s always held a special place in my heart,” he says, recalling his first impressions of Godot. “I was in my 20s and I couldn’t see the shadow, the dark side of the play.”

For Mandvi, one of Beckett’s virtues is his ability to alternate effortlessly between heartbreak and hilarity. “What do we do to fill the time? We fool around and make up stories and abuse and hurt each other, kiss and love each other, and that’s what Vladimir and Estragon do in this play. It is the experience of living in a truly honest way. And in the end, it begins where it ends and ends where it begins.”