Classical Theatre of Harlem brings Waiting for Godot to Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts October 3

Classical Theatre of Harlem brings Waiting for Godot to Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts October 3

If there is a more dauntless ensemble in New York than the Classical Theatre of Harlem, I don't know what it is. - The New York Times


Image: Waiting for Godot In an electrifying spin on Samuel Beckett's classic "Waiting for Godot," The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) uses the agonizing wait for help after Katrina as the central metaphor. The production will be staged at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. and is one of the University's 2009-2010 three areas of focus; "Communities in Action: A Year of Activism." Tickets are $30.

The project was conceived by New York artist Paul Chan, who is known for his unique way of bringing light onto dynamic situations in the current times. The play, directed by Christopher McElroen, was performed for free in New Orleans in Nov. 2007 and is now part of the CTH touring repertoire.

Wendell Pierce (of the TV series, "The Wire") starred as Vladimir. Pierce, who is a native of New Orleans and a CTH company member, said in an interview with the Times-Picayune on Nov. 10, 2007, "This experience has been the most exciting of my life. This was the best of New Orleans, the humanity of New Orleans, all kinds of people coming together as one: Ninth Ward residents, people who may never have been to the Ninth Ward and everyone in between."

The words speak to every person in the audience - their meaning transcends space and time to create the feeling of hope. The artists who worked on the project spoke of feeling that they are living in a time of moral emergency, much as Beckett, himself, did.

And a member of the New Orleans audience whose 80-year-old mother survived Katrina wrote in a letter to the local paper, "Friday morning at 7 a.m., my 14-year-old son, wife and mother will start the roughly 560-mile drive from Nashville, Tenn. to ... see a corner lot staging of "Waiting for Godot"...I want (my son) to see how a neutral ground stage can become a place of social and political comment and a play can be a call to action. I want my son to see theater that touches lives and does more than just entertain. So, we're driving nine hours, lawn chairs in the trunk, to see art."

Tickets are available at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 877-ARTS-396. For more information, go to fairfield.edu/quick .

Posted On: 09-09-2009 10:09 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 52