Reviews of shows from the New York International Fringe Festival will appear on ArtsBeat through the festivalâs close on Aug. 25. For more information, go to fringenyc.org.
Two guys on a road waiting for a man theyâve never met who never comes. Samuel Beckettâs âWaiting for Godot,â of course. Two understudies backstage waiting for their chance to go on â" a seriously unlikely prospect â" in a production of âWaiting for Godot.â That is Dave Hansonâs delectable âWaiting for Waiting for Godot.â
It would be a crime against absurdist-theatrical nature to make the abstractions of Beckettâs masterpiece concrete. But Mr. Hansonâs play gets away with pretending to be a parody, so we forgive it â" even for having the nerve to provide a resolution.
Chris Sullivan has the showier role as Ester (Estragon in the original), a big guy who pretends to know everything. He decides to teach Val (played with convincing delicacy here by Mr. Hanson) the Miserly acting technique, which consists of repeating the other actorâs line ad infinitum, and the Mamet, the art of cursing onstage.
Half the joke is that Ester pronounces the name Mam-may, and pretty much everyone in the audience knows that David Mametâs surname rhymes with damn it. Yes, this is catnip for theater insiders, but you donât have to be one to appreciate certain comments on Juilliard and talent agents.
âWaiting for Waiting for Godotâ is richly, vibrantly, aggressively acted, and directed in kind by Alex Harvey. Even Amy Weaver, who appears briefly as the assistant stage manager, is memorable, doing what amounts to a dramatic reading of lighting cues.
âWaiting for Waiting for Godotâ continues through Sunday at Kraine Theater, 85 East Fourth Street, East Village.