Editing Waiting for Godot (section)

===1950s to 1969===
====France and Germany====
"[O]n 17 February 1952 ... an abridged version of the play was performed in the studio of the [[Club d'Essai]] de la Radio and was broadcast on [French] radio ... [A]lthough he sent a polite note that [[Roger Blin]] read out, Beckett himself did not turn up."<ref>Knowlson, James, ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp. 386, 394</ref> Part of his introduction reads:
{{blockquote|I don't know who Godot is. I don't even know (above all don't know) if he exists. And I don't know if they believe in him or not – those two who are waiting for him. The other two who pass by towards the end of each of the two acts, that must be to break up the monotony. All I knew I showed. It's not much, but it's enough for me, by a wide margin. I'll even say that I would have been satisfied with less. As for wanting to find in all that a broader, loftier meaning to carry away from the performance, along with the program and the [[Eskimo pie]], I cannot see the point of it. But it must be possible ... [[Estragon]], [[Vladimir (Waiting for Godot)|Vladimir]], [[Pozzo (Waiting for Godot)|Pozzo]], [[Lucky (Waiting for Godot)|Lucky]], their time and their space, I was able to know them a little, but far from the need to understand. Maybe they owe you explanations. Let them supply it. Without me. They and I are through with each other.<ref>Ruby Cohn on the ''Godot'' Circle in Knowlson, James and Elizabeth, (Eds.) ''Beckett Remembering – Remembering Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 2006), p. 122</ref>}}

The play was first published in September 1952 by [[Les Éditions de Minuit]]<ref>{{cite book| title=Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts| last=Beckett| first=Samuel| publisher=Faber & Faber| year=2012| isbn=978-0571297016| location=London| at=Table of Dates| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B91TKeLQ54EC&q=beckett+godot+september+1952+minuit&pg=PT16| access-date=21 October 2020| archive-date=21 May 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521013126/https://books.google.com/books?id=B91TKeLQ54EC&q=beckett+godot+september+1952+minuit&pg=PT16| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=En attendant Godot| url=https://archive.org/details/enattendantgodo00beck| url-access=registration|last=Beckett| first=Samuel| publisher=[[Les Éditions de Minuit]]| year=1952| location=Paris| at=Printer's Notice at rear of the first edition states "achevé d'imprimer sur les presses de l'imprimerie habauzit a Aubenas (Ardèche), en septembre mil neuf cent cinquante deux. Dépôt légal 3e trimestre 1952"}}</ref> and released on 17 October 1952 in advance of the first full theatrical performance;<ref>{{cite news |last=McCrum |first=Robert |date=15 August 2016 |title=The 100 best nonfiction books: No 29 – Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1952/53) |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/15/100-best-nonfiction-books-waiting-for-godot-samuel-beckett-robert-mccrum |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 January 2019 |archive-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622172507/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/15/100-best-nonfiction-books-waiting-for-godot-samuel-beckett-robert-mccrum |url-status=live }}</ref> only 2500 copies were printed of this first edition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Samuel Beckett: An Exhibition Held at Reading University Library, May to July 1971|last=Knowlson|first=James|publisher=Turret Books|year=1971|location=London|page=61|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TO5QAQAAIAAJ&q=beckett+godot+1952+minuit+2500|access-date=21 October 2020|archive-date=21 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521013106/https://books.google.com/books?id=TO5QAQAAIAAJ&q=beckett+godot+1952+minuit+2500|url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 January 1953, "[t]hirty reviewers came to the ''générale'' of ''En attendant Godot'' before the public opening ... Contrary to later legend, the reviewers were kind ... Some dozen reviews in daily newspapers range[d] from tolerant to enthusiastic ... Reviews in the weeklies [were] longer and more fervent; moreover, they appeared in time to lure spectators to that first thirty-day run"<ref>[[Ruby Cohn|Cohn, Ruby]], ''From Desire to Godot'' (London: Calder Publications; New York: Riverrun Press), 1998, pp. 153, 157</ref> which began on 5 January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. Early public performances were not, however, without incident: during one performance "the curtain had to be brought down after Lucky's [[monologue]] as twenty, well-dressed, but disgruntled spectators whistled and hooted derisively ... One of the protesters [even] wrote a vituperative letter dated 2 February 1953 to ''[[Le Monde]]''."<ref>Knowlson, James, ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp. 387, 778 n. 139</ref>

The cast comprised {{interlanguage link|Pierre Latour (actor)|fr|Pierre Latour (artiste)|lt=Pierre Latour}} (Estragon), [[Lucien Raimbourg]] (Vladimir), [[Jean Martin]] (Lucky) and [[Roger Blin]] (Pozzo). The actor due to play Pozzo found a more remunerative role and so the director – a shy, lean man in real life – had to step in and play the stout bombaster himself with a pillow amplifying his stomach. Both boys were played by Serge Lecointe. The entire production was done on the thinnest of shoestring budgets; the large battered valise that Martin carried "was found among the city's refuse by the husband of the [[Dresser (theatre)|theatre dresser]] on his rounds as he worked clearing the dustbins",<ref>Interview with Jean Martin, September 1989. Referenced in Knowlson, James, ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp. 386, 387</ref> for example. Blin helped the actors embody their characters by asking them to determine a physical malady that would contribute to the nature of their character.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Birkett |first=Jennifer |title=Undoing time: the life and work of Samuel Beckett |date=2017 |publisher=Irish Academic Press |isbn=978-0-7165-3290-3 |location=Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland |page=122}}</ref> Latour emphasized Estragon's bad feet and Raimbourg Vladimir's prostate problems, while Blin played Pozzo as a man with heart difficulties. Martin played Lucky with the symptoms of [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dumontet |first=Mathilde |date=2020 |title=Concurrence Économique et Interénétration Artistique dans La Parodie et En Attendant Godot de Roger Blin |journal=European Drama and Performance Studies |language=fr |issue=14 |pages=129–144 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref>

A particularly significant production – from Beckett's perspective – took place in [[Lüttringhausen]] Prison near [[Remscheid]] in Germany. An inmate obtained a copy of the French [[first edition]], translated it himself into German and obtained permission to stage the play. The first night had been on 29 November 1953. He wrote to Beckett in October 1954: "You will be surprised to be receiving a letter about your play ''Waiting for Godot'', from a prison where so many [[Theft|thieves]], [[Forgery|forgers]], [[criminal|toughs]], [[Homosexuality|homos]], [[Lunatic|crazy men]] and [[Murder|killers]] spend this bitch of a life waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting. Waiting for what? Godot? Perhaps."<ref>Letter from an unnamed Lüttringhausen prisoner, 1 October 1956. Translated by James Knowlson. Quoted in Knowlson, J., ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p. 431</ref> Beckett was intensely moved and intended to visit the prison to see a last performance of the play but it never happened. This marked "the beginning of Beckett's enduring links with prisons and prisoners ... He took a tremendous interest in productions of his plays performed in prisons."<ref name=Knowlson />

====UK====
Like all of Beckett's translations, the English translation of ''Waiting for Godot'' is not simply a literal translation of ''{{Lang|fr|En attendant Godot}}''. "Small but significant differences separate the French and English text. Some, like Vladimir's inability to remember the farmer's name (Bonnelly<ref>A farmer in Roussillon, the village where Beckett fled during World War II; he never worked for the Bonnellys, though he used to visit and purchase eggs and wine there. See {{harvnb|Cronin|1997|p=333}}</ref>), show how the translation became more indefinite, attrition and loss of memory more pronounced."{{sfn|Ackerley|Gontarski|2006|pp=622, 623}} A number of biographical details were removed, all adding to a general "vaguening"<ref>An expression coined by Beckett in which he makes the "meaning" less and less clear at each draft. A detailed discussion of Beckett's method can be found in Pountney, R., ''Theatre of Shadows: Samuel Beckett's Drama'' 1956–1976 (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe, 1988) although it concentrates on later works when this process had become more refined.</ref> of the text which he continued to trim for the rest of his life.

The English-language saw its first UK production on 3 August 1955 at the [[Arts Theatre]] in London, directed by [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]].    During an early rehearsal Hall told the cast "I haven't really the foggiest idea what some of it means ... But if we stop and discuss every line we'll never open."<ref name=Klein>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/nyregion/theater-reviews-decades-later-the-quest-for-meaning-goes-on.html|title=Decades Later, the Quest for Meaning Goes On|last=Klein|first=Alvin|author-link=Alvin Klein|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 November 1997|access-date=4 June 2019|archive-date=24 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724144302/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/02/nyregion/theater-reviews-decades-later-the-quest-for-meaning-goes-on.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Again, the printed version preceded it (New York: Grove Press, 1954) but Faber's "mutilated" edition did not materialise until 1956. A "corrected" edition was subsequently produced in 1965. "The most accurate text is in ''Theatrical Notebooks'' I, (Ed.) Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson (Faber and Grove, 1993). It is based on Beckett's revisions for his Schiller-Theater production (1975) and the London San Quentin Drama Workshop, based on the Schiller production but revised further at the [[Riverside Studios]] (March 1984)."{{sfn|Ackerley|Gontarski|2006|pp=620, 621}}

In the 1950s, theatre was strictly [[Censorship|censored]] in the UK, to Beckett's amazement since he thought it a bastion of [[Freedom of speech|free speech]]. The [[Lord Chamberlain]] insisted that the word "[[erection]]" be removed, "&thinsp;'Fartov' became 'Popov' and Mrs Gozzo had '[[wart]]s' instead of '[[Gonorrhea|clap]]{{'"}}.{{sfn|Bair|1990|p=471}} Indeed, there were attempts to ban the play completely. Lady Dorothy Howitt wrote to the Lord Chamberlain, saying: "One of the many themes running through the play is the desire of two old tramps continually to relieve themselves. Such a dramatisation of lavatory necessities is offensive and against all sense of British decency."<ref>Letter released under the [[Freedom of information legislation|Freedom of Information Act]]. Quoted by Peter Hall in '[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/aug/24/theatre.beckettat100 Godot Almighty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521013130/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/aug/24/theatre.beckettat100 |date=21 May 2024 }}', ''[[The Guardian]]'', 24 August 2005</ref> "The first unexpurgated version of ''Godot'' in England ... opened at the [[Royal Court Theatre|Royal Court]] on 30 December 1964."{{sfn|Bair|1990|p=613}}

The London run was not without incident. The actor [[Peter Bull]], who played Pozzo, recalls the reaction of that first night audience:
[[File:En attendant Godot, Festival d'Avignon, 1978.jpeg|thumb|''En attendant Godot'', 1978 [[Festival d'Avignon]], directed by [[Otomar Krejča]]]]
<blockquote>Waves of hostility came whirling over the footlights, and the mass exodus, which was to form such a feature of the run of the piece, started quite soon after the curtain had risen. The audible groans were also fairly disconcerting ... The curtain fell to mild applause, we took a scant three calls ([[Peter Woodthorpe]] reports only one [[curtain call]]<ref>[[Peter Woodthorpe]] on the British première of ''Waiting for Godott'' in Knowlson, James and Elizabeth, (Eds.) ''Beckett Remembering – Remembering Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 2006), p. 122</ref>) and a depression and a sense of anti-climax descended on us all.<ref>Bull, P., ''I know the face but ...'', quoted in ''Casebook on 'Waiting for Godot'', pp. 41, 42. Quoted in Knowlson, J., ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p. 414</ref></blockquote>

The critics were less than kind but "[e]verything changed on Sunday 7 August 1955 with [[Kenneth Tynan]]'s and [[Harold Hobson]]'s reviews in ''[[The Observer]]'' and ''[[The Sunday Times]]''. Beckett was always grateful to the two reviewers for their support ... which more or less transformed the play overnight into the rage of London."<ref>Knowlson, James, ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), p. 415</ref> "At the end of the year, the [[Evening Standard]] Drama Awards were held for the first time ... Feelings ran high and the opposition, led by Sir [[Malcolm Sargent]], threatened to resign if ''Godot'' won [The Best New Play category]. An English compromise was worked out by changing the title of the award. ''Godot'' became The Most Controversial Play of the Year. It is a prize that has never been given since."<ref>[http://samuel-beckett.net/PeterHallGodot.html Peter Hall looks back at the original Godot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006123343/http://samuel-beckett.net/PeterHallGodot.html |date=6 October 2007 }}, Samuel-Beckett.net</ref>

On 27 April 1960, the [[BBC Third Programme]] broadcast the very first radio adaptation, directed by [[Donald McWhinnie]], with [[Patrick Magee (actor)|Patrick Magee]] as Vladimir, [[Wilfrid Brambell]] as Estragon, [[Felix Felton]] as Pozzo, [[Donal Donnelly]] as Lucky and Jeremy Ward as The Boy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a1466f7dc8c34253862877178574d128 |title=BBC Third Programme: "Waiting for Godot" |website=BBC Programme Index |date=27 April 1960 |access-date=2023-02-23 |archive-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223192417/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a1466f7dc8c34253862877178574d128 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 26 June 1961, Donald McWhinnie directed a production broadcast on [[BBC Television]], with [[Jack MacGowran]] as Vladimir, [[Peter Woodthorpe]] as Estragon, [[Felix Felton]] as Pozzo, [[Timothy Bateson]] as Lucky and Mark Mileham as The Boy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/960b8bcc4dad4380a6da7d68a71538d4 |title=BBC Television: "Waiting for Godot" |website=BBC Programme Index |date=26 June 1961 |access-date=2023-02-23 |archive-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223195655/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/960b8bcc4dad4380a6da7d68a71538d4 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 5 February 1962, the [[BBC Home Service]] broadcast a radio production as part of the ''From the Fifties'' series, directed by [[Robin Midgley]] with [[Nigel Stock (actor)|Nigel Stock]] as Vladimir, [[Kenneth Griffith]] as Estragon, Philip Leaver as Pozzo, [[Andrew Sachs]] as Lucky and Terry Raven as The Boy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/618256147add4dc785f814507a6ec10c |title=From the Fifties: "Waiting for Godot" |website=BBC Programme Index |date=5 February 1962 |access-date=2023-03-02 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305122558/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/618256147add4dc785f814507a6ec10c |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 1964, [[Nicol Williamson]] played Vladimir, [[Alfred Lynch]] played Estragon and [[Jack MacGowran]] played Lucky in a production at London's [[Royal Court Theatre]] directed by [[Anthony Page]]. This was the first West End revival since the play's British première.

====US====
Planning for an American tour for ''Waiting for Godot'' started in 1955. The first American tour was directed by Alan Schneider and produced by Michael Myerberg. [[Bert Lahr]] and [[Tom Ewell]] acted in the initial production.

The first part of the tour was a disaster. The play was originally set to be shown in Washington and Philadelphia. However, low advance sales forced the play to be performed in Miami for two weeks in early January 1956 at the newly opened Coconut Grove Playhouse, where the audience was made up of vacationers.{{sfn|Bradby|2001|page=93}} It had been promoted as "the laugh sensation of two continents" in the notices run by Myerberg in the local newspapers.{{sfn|Bradby|2001|p=93}}

Most audience members were baffled by the play.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105614/advertisement-for-american-premiere-of/|title=Advertisement for Coconut Grove Playhouse's American premiere of ''Waiting for Godot''|date=December 18, 1955|work=Miami Herald|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=18-F|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=21 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521014311/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-advertisement-for-ameri/94105614/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Jane|last=Wood|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105387/coconut-grove-playhouse-opens-with-us/|title=Millionaire's Magic Wand Transforms Grove Theater|date=January 3, 1956|work=Miami News|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=25A|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203160408/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105387/coconut-grove-playhouse-opens-with-us/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Jack|last=Anderson|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94104886/miami-herald-review-of-us-premiere-of/|title=Mink-Clad Audience Disappointed in 'Waiting for Godot'|date=January 4, 1956|work=Miami Herald|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=8-A|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203160415/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94104886/miami-herald-review-of-us-premiere-of/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Helen|last=Wells|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94110041/helen-wells-article-on-american/|title=Grove Playhouse Impressed Audience Even If Play Didn't|date=January 4, 1956|work=Miami Herald|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=1-B|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=21 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521014349/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-helen-wells-article-on/94110041/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Mary|last=Axelson|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94109051/mary-axelson-theaters-actors-were/|title=Theater's 'Actors' Were In Audience|date=January 8, 1956|work=Miami News|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=98A|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203163503/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94109051/mary-axelson-theaters-actors-were/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105614/advertisement-for-american-premiere-of/|title=Advertisement for Coconut Grove Playhouse: "Make Up Your Own Mind!"|date=January 10, 1956|work=Miami News|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=6B|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203155148/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105614/advertisement-for-american-premiere-of/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Walter|last=Locke|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105114/walter-locke-on-miami-us-premiere-of/|title=This Waiting for Godot: Our Own Blind Alley?|date=January 27, 1956|work=Miami News|access-date=February 3, 2022|page=18A|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=3 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203161121/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94105114/walter-locke-on-miami-us-premiere-of/|url-status=live}}</ref> Theatregoers would leave after the first act, describing it as a play where "nothing happens", and taxi drivers would wait in front of the theatre to take them home.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graver |first1=Lawrence |title=Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-54938-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/samuelbeckettwai00grav_0/page/16 16] |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/samuelbeckettwai00grav_0/page/16 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schlueter |first1=June |editor1-last=Brunkhorst |editor1-first=M. |editor2-last=Rohmann |editor2-first=G. |editor3-last=Schoell |editor3-first=K. |title=The American Theatre since Waiting for Godot |journal=Brunkhorst |date=1988 |page=218 |url=https://dspace.lafayette.edu/bitstream/handle/10385/1186/Schlueter-BeckettunddieLiteraturderGegenwart-1988.pdf?sequence=1 |access-date=2 December 2018 |publisher=Universitätsverlag Winter |location=Heidelberg |archive-date=14 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214071030/https://dspace.lafayette.edu/bitstream/handle/10385/1186/Schlueter-BeckettunddieLiteraturderGegenwart-1988.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Miami showing caused the cancellation of the showings in New York.

By April 1956, new showings were planned. That month, Schneider and most of the cast were replaced. [[Herbert Berghof]] took over as director and [[E. G. Marshall]] replaced Tom Ewell as Vladimir.{{sfn|Graver|2004|p=17}} The play had its [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] premiere at the [[John Golden Theatre]] on 19 April 1956, with [[Bert Lahr]] as Estragon, [[E. G. Marshall]] as Vladimir, [[Alvin Epstein]] as Lucky, and [[Kurt Kasznar]] as Pozzo.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/beckett-godot.html?module=inline|title=Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot'|author=[[Brooks Atkinson]]|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 April 1956|access-date=23 June 2019|archive-date=28 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128034910/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/beckett-godot.html?module=inline|url-status=live}}</ref> The New York showing of the play prompted discussions of the play being an allegory. One reviewer, [[Henry Hewes (critic)|Henry Hewes]] of the ''[[Saturday Review (U.S. magazine)|Saturday Review]]'', identified Godot as God, Pozzo as a capitalist-aristocrat, and Lucky as labour-proletarian.{{sfn|Graver|2004|p=17}} This prompted Beckett to issue a rare statement, stating that the reaction was based on a misconception of the play. To Beckett, the play tries not to be able to be defined.{{sfn|Graver|2004|pp=17-18}} The New York showing of the play was well-received with critics. [[Brooks Atkinson]] of ''The New York Times'' praised Lahr for his performance as Estragon.{{sfn|Bradby|2001|p=94}} The production was recorded as a two-record album by [[Columbia Masterworks Records]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/11661702-Bert-Lahr-And-EG-Marshall-Kurt-Kasznar-With-Alvin-Epstein-Luchino-Solito-De-Solis-Waiting-For-Godot |title=Bert Lahr And E.G. Marshall, Kurt Kasznar With Alvin Epstein, Luchino Solito De Solis – Waiting For Godot |website=Discogs.com |access-date=2023-03-03 |archive-date=19 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219203411/https://www.discogs.com/release/11661702-Bert-Lahr-And-EG-Marshall-Kurt-Kasznar-With-Alvin-Epstein-Luchino-Solito-De-Solis-Waiting-For-Godot |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1957, four years after its world premiere, ''Waiting for Godot'' was staged for one night only at the [[San Quentin State Prison]] in California. [[Herbert Blau]] with the San Francisco [[Actor's Workshop]] directed the production. Some 1,400 inmates encountered the performance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/manuscript-annotations-by-samuel-beckett-in-a-copy-of-waiting-for-godot-for-a-production-by-the-san-quentin-drama-workshop|title=Manuscript annotations by Samuel Beckett in a copy of ''Waiting for Godot'' for a production by the San Quentin Drama Workshop|website=The British Library|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126034212/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/manuscript-annotations-by-samuel-beckett-in-a-copy-of-waiting-for-godot-for-a-production-by-the-san-quentin-drama-workshop|url-status=dead}}</ref> Beckett later gave [[Rick Cluchey]], a former prisoner from San Quentin, financial and moral support over a period of many years.<ref name=Knowlson>Knowlson, James, ''Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1996), pp. 410, 411</ref> Cluchey played Vladimir in two productions in the former [[Gallows]] room of the San Quentin California State Prison, which had been converted into a 65-seat theatre and, like the German prisoner before him, went on to work on a variety of Beckett's plays after his release. Cluchey said, "The thing that everyone in San Quentin understood about Beckett, while the rest of the world had trouble catching up, was what it meant to be in the face of it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rhystranter.com/2015/05/15/rick-cluchey-san-quentin-drama-workshop-beckett-interview/|title=San Quentin and Samuel Beckett: An Interview with Rick Cluchey|last=Tranter|first=Rhys|date=2015-05-15|website=RhysTranter.com|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=15 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215121638/https://rhystranter.com/2015/05/15/rick-cluchey-san-quentin-drama-workshop-beckett-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref> The attitude of this troupe was to move it away from a commercial attitude to an ''[[avant garde]]'' attitude.{{sfn|Bradby|2001|p=96}} As well, the play did not have competition between the actors playing Vladimir and Estragon for being the star of the show.{{sfn|Bradby|2001|p=101}} The most successful showing was in November 1957 at the San Quentin prison, where the play had a profound impact on the inmates and spurred them to start a drama group in the prison. They would go on to produce seven of Beckett's works.{{sfn|Bradby|2001|p=104}} In 1958, the play, produced by the San Francisco Actor's Workshop, would be chosen to go to Brussels for the [[1958 World's Fair]].{{sfn|Ackerley|Gontarski|2004|page=622}}

The first Broadway revival was produced in 1957 at the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]] directed by [[Herbert Berghof]], but only ran for six performances (January 21–26).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/waiting-for-godot-2604|title= Waiting for Godot, 1957|website= Internet Broadway Database|access-date= 2023-02-10|archive-date= 29 December 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211229173853/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/waiting-for-godot-2604|url-status= live}}</ref> It had an all-Black cast, including [[Earle Hyman]] as Vladimir, [[Mantan Moreland]] as Estragon, [[Rex Ingram (actor)|Rex Ingram]] as Pozzo and [[Geoffrey Holder]] as Lucky. This rendition of ''Waiting for Godot'' played on themes of the [[Afro-Surrealism|Africana absurd]] as opposed to the [[Theatre of the absurd|European absurd]]. For example, Hyman's career as a classical actor and Moreland's as a vaudeville actor were used to juxtapose the different facets of African American theatre in the mind of the audience.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vogel |first=Shane |date=January 2022 |title=Waiting for Godot and the Racial Theater of the Absurd |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/waiting-for-godot-and-the-racial-theater-of-the-absurd/E9E0DFABE78D9DF858AA12F1CA471961 |journal=Publications of the Modern Language Association of America |language=en |volume=137 |issue=1 |pages=19–35 |doi=10.1632/S0030812921000766 |issn=0030-8129 |access-date=28 February 2024 |archive-date=28 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228175433/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/pmla/article/abs/waiting-for-godot-and-the-racial-theater-of-the-absurd/E9E0DFABE78D9DF858AA12F1CA471961 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Also in May 1957, a production directed by Walter Biakel was staged at the [[Fine Arts Building (Chicago)|Studebaker Theatre in Chicago]] with [[Harvey Korman]] as Vladimir, [[Louis Zorich]] as Estragon, [[Moultrie Patten]] as Pozzo and [[Mike Nichols]] as Lucky.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.abouttheartists.com/productions/139284-waiting-for-godot-at-studebaker-theatre-1957 | title=Playwrights Theatre Club presents Waiting for Godot | website=About the Artists | access-date=2023-02-10}}</ref>

In 1965, a production at the [[Olney Theatre Center|Olney Theatre]] in [[Olney, Maryland]] starred [[Dana Elcar]] as "Vladimir" and [[Stefan Gierasch]] as "Estragon" as part of ''A Festival of the Absurd''.

====Australia====
In the Australian premiere at the Arrow Theatre in Melbourne in 1957, [[Barry Humphries]] played Estragon opposite [[Peter O'Shaughnessy]]'s Vladimir.<ref name=OZ>[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/two-blokes-walked-on-to-a-stage/story-fn9n8gph-1226754361206 "Two blokes walked on to a stage"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112125306/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/two-blokes-walked-on-to-a-stage/story-fn9n8gph-1226754361206 |date=12 November 2013 }} by Sharon Vergis, ''[[The Australian]]'', 9 November 2013</ref>

====Canada====
''Waiting for Godot'' was first performed at the [[Stratford Festival]] in 1968 at the Avon Theatre in a production directed by [[William Hutt (actor)|William Hutt]], with Powys Thomas as Vladimir, Eric Donkin as Estragon, [[James Blendick]] as Pozzo, Adrian Pecknold as Lucky and Douglas Birkenshaw as The Boy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archives.stratfordfestival.ca/AIS/Details/productions/102 | title=Stratford Festival Production/Event Register: Waiting for Godot, 1968 |website=Stratford Festival |access-date=2023-02-10}}</ref>

====South Africa====
The very first South African production was performed in 1955 at the [[Little Theatre (Cape Town)|Little Theatre]] in [[Cape Town]], produced by Leonard Schach, with Gavin Haughton as Vladimir, Alec Bell as Estragon, Donald Inskip as Lucky, Gordon Roberts as Pazzo and Frank Rothgiesser as The Boy.<ref name="esat.sun.ac.za">{{cite web |url=https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Waiting_for_Godot |title=Waiting for Godot - Performance History in South Africa |website=ESAT |access-date=2023-03-03 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412082852/https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Waiting_for_Godot |url-status=live }}</ref> The play was also presented at the Hofmeyr Theatre and then taken on a tour of several country towns in South Africa.

====Brazil====
After a few amateur productions in the 1950s, the first professional staging of the play in Brazil happened in 1969, directed by Flávio Rangel and staged by actress [[Cacilda Becker]] as Estragon and her real-life husband, actor [[Walmor Chagas]] as Vladimir. After few performances, on May 6, 1969, Becker had a [[stroke]] and collapsed during the intermission. She was immediately taken to a hospital, still wearing the play's costume, and remained in a [[coma]] for 38 days until her passing on June 14.<ref>{{cite journal |url =http://almanaque.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada_15jun1969.htm |title =A morte de Cacilda Becker |journal =Almanaque Folha |publisher =UOL |access-date =22 August 2023 |archive-date =27 April 2023 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230427202022/http://almanaque.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada_15jun1969.htm |url-status =live }}</ref>

==== Poland ====
The Polish premiere took place on 25 January 1957, at Teatr Współczesny in Warsaw. directed by Jerzy Kreczmar and featuring [[Tadeusz Fijewski]] as Vladimir and [[Józef Kondrat]] as Estragon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Czekając na Godota - przedstawienia |url=https://encyklopediateatru.pl/przedstawienie/11934/czekajac-na-godota |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Encyklopedia teatru polskiego |archive-date=21 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521014822/https://encyklopediateatru.pl/przedstawienie/11934/czekajac-na-godota |url-status=live }}</ref> The Polish premiere was the fifth in the world and the first in the Communist Bloc.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brzeska |first=Ewa |url=https://monografie.fnp.org.pl/monografie/images/Files/gvo5XmRxV9neAiDW4lFJ1cBKjGUbtEYN.pdf |title=Recepcja twórczości Samuela Becketta w Polsce |publisher=Wydawnictwo UMK |year=2020 |isbn=978-83-231-4339-0 |location=Toruń |pages=12 |language=pl |access-date=1 November 2023 |archive-date=1 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101013229/https://monografie.fnp.org.pl/monografie/images/Files/gvo5XmRxV9neAiDW4lFJ1cBKjGUbtEYN.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>