Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
directed by Matthew Brewbaker
March 24, 25 2006
Scottish Rite, 616 A Avenue NE, Cedar Rapids
Save $1 and purchase tix in advance at 319-364-2904
Sponsored by Randy's Carpets & Interiors

Dreamwell presents Samuel Beckett's classic absurdist tragi-comedy. Two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon meet near a bare tree on a country road. They wait for the promised arrival of Godot, who is never clearly identified. Many have suggested that Godot is "God", but Beckett himself said, "If I knew who Godot was, I would have said so in the play." The result is a highly unusual play that poses many questions, but doesn't answer them. Who is Godot? See the show and decide for yourself.

Dreamwell comes to Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids - In a few weeks, Dreamwell Theatre will perform in Cedar Rapids for the very first time. The nine-year-old Iowa City-based theater brings to the stage the classic tragicomedy Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett at the Scottish Rite building in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Performances are scheduled for March 24 and 25 at 8 pm in theater space of the Scottish Rite, 616 A Avenue NE. Tickets are $12 for the general public, $10 for seniors over 65, and $8 for students with ID and can be reserved by visiting www.dreamwell.com. Theatergoers can save one dollar by purchasing tickets in advance. To do so, contact the Scottish Rite at 319-364-2904.

For nine years, Dreamwell has produced shows in the Iowa City area. President Matthew Falduto is excited to moving into a new area.

"This is a chance for us to expand our reach a little bit," said Falduto. "And when we saw this beautiful historic theater hidden in the middle of downtown Cedar Rapids, we were compelled to bring a show there." The Scottish Rite building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior in 1999.

"Waiting for Godot seemed the perfect show for us to bring to a new area because it's a classic and it's also very funny and accessible," said Brian Tanner, Executive Director of the theater.

Samuel Beckett, a playwright, novelist, and poet, was born in a suburb of Dublin in 1906. He work was greatly influenced by Irish nationalism, experimental European drama, and American vaudeville, all of which are present in his masterpiece Waiting for Godot. Written when Beckett was 40 years old, it slowly gained international attention and earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. This absurd, existential, and darkly funny play is noted as one of the most influential pieces of drama in the 20th century.

Director Matthew Brewbaker, who has wanted to direct the show for many years, noted, “Godot is a play about finding our place in the world, about defining the world we are in, and about the struggle between form and function among many things.”

Portraying the two vagabonds, Estragon and Vladimir, are Gregory Aldrich, who was seen in Dreamwell's productions of Baal and Fortinbras last fall, and Luis Sierra, who is a newcomer to Dreamwell's stage but a familiar face at other area theaters.

“It would seem that in making us find the meanings within the play and within ourselves Beckett has cast us all as Vladimir and Estragon,” said Brewbaker

Cast:

Estragon - Luis Sierra
Vladimir - Greg Aldrich
Pozzo - Pat Keyes
Lucky - Christina Patramanis
Boy - Sam Bills

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A waiting game

By: Louis Virtel - The Daily Iowan Issue date: 2/9/06 Section: 80 Hours Two tramps, one tree, and anticipation.

Though it sounds like something advertised during late-night Howard Stern reruns on E!, it's actually one of theater's most revered modern tragicomedies. The play is Waiting For Godot, Samuel Beckett's stark meditation on absurdity, death, and existentialism. The Dreamwell Theatre's production of the play - the story of two men in rags who wait outside a forest for the ever-ambiguous "Godot" - will open Friday as the company's last production in the Old Capitol Town Center. Dreamwell's lease with the mall was terminated late last year.

In a recent press release, Godot director Matthew Brewbaker lamented the loss of the space but touted Dreamwell's success by saying, "What 2005 proved is we have a loyal audience that wants to see us in a good space. We're going to build on our success and find that permanent home."

Before Dreamwell finds that new space, however, Godot goes on. The minimalist play fits the Gap-sized stage in Old Capitol mall well, considering the lack of scenery required to match Beckett's hazy script.

Even more appropriately, 2006 marks the 100-year anniversary of Samuel Beckett's birth, a fact Dreamwell President Matthew Falduto pegs as a main reason the play lands in the company's new season.

"In addition, we like to do a classic or two each season," he said. "It makes you ask questions. And, it's damn funny."

The five-member cast includes Pat Aldrich, a Dreamwell board member playing the part of Vladimir, one of the two "tramps" living in the play's world both pensive and monotonously. The rest of the cast fills out with Luis Sierra as Estragon, Vladimir's companion, and Pat Keyes, Christina Patramanis, and Sam Bills as the play's mysterious visitors who float into Godot's odd plot like blurry images in a dream.

As audiences await Godot's arrival, Dreamwell begins preparations for a celebration of its six-month stay at Old Capitol and its commitment to the company's mission statement - to perform intimate, high-quality shows "that most other theaters wouldn't risk producing." The company will also hold a fundraiser in early March, which will reflect on Dreamwell's nine-year history, with readings from selected shows.

E-mail DI reporter Louis Virtel at: louis-virtel@uiowa.edu

Dreamwell stages classic 'Godot' for goodbye show

Old Capitol space to see its last Dreamwell play

By Deanna Truman-Cook

Iowa City Press-Citizen

For its last show in Old Capitol Town Center, Dreamwell Theatre is switching gears -- choosing a classic, "Waiting for Godot," over a new work.

"We like to do the shows you have never heard of, but every now and then, we like to do a classic," said Matt Falduto, president of Dreamwell.

As for why the company chose to stage the Samuel Beckett classic as its goodbye show, Falduto said there are a lot of reasons, such as show director Matthew Brewbaker dreaming of doing it for years and it being a "really funny show."

In "Waiting for Godot," two guys meet each day near a tree to, well, wait. They wait for Godot, someone they don't know from Adam, who seems to hold their future in his hands.

Godot never comes, but the pair keeps on waiting. Passing the time with talk of vegetables, religion, urinary troubles and Godot.

At the end of the play, one of the men ask: "Well, shall we go?" and the other replies, "Yes, let's go."

However, they remain where they are.

"Godot is a play about finding our place in the world, about defining the world we are in and about the struggle between form and function among many things," Brewbaker said. "What is wonderful is that unlike so many other classics, it is so accessible and not dated."