THE THIRD annual Beckett Festival gets underway tomorrow evening (Thursday, July 31) with a unique chance to experience two performances of the famous ‘Waiting for Godot’ – on the same night.
Organisers of the third annual ‘Happy Days’ festival are making the wait for Godot much easier with a unique opportunity to experience not one but two international performances of the famous play – on the same night!
Festival-goers are being offered a trip on a special Beckett bus that will whisk them from a first act performance of Waiting for Godot by one of France’s premier clown and vaudeville troupes – Theatre Nono – to the school Beckett attended, Portora Royal School, for a second half performance of the Yiddish of Wartn Af Godot by the New Yiddish Rep from New York.
The quirky experience is available at a discounted price of just £19.53, to reflect the year the play first premiered in Paris, and in a further nod to Beckett’s work attendees on the night will also get a carrot and turnip to munch on as they make their way between the performances.
This is thought to be the first time that two Waiting for Godots are starting at the same time in the same town and tickets for this unique event are only available for the festival opening nights of Thursday 31st July and Friday 2nd August.
Artistic director and founder Sean Doran “Together these two Godots uniquely present the origins of what is generally considered the greatest play of the twentieth century. Never again will this opportunity likely be afforded on these shores.
“An idea like this could really only be applied to Waiting for Godot, which fellow Old Portoran Vivian Mercier described as a play in which nothing happens, twice. It’s the uniqueness of this particular play where Act 1 and Act 2 are on the surface very similar that an idea like this can work both as great fun as well as artistically. It’s an even greater way to enjoy the play itself.”
With hotels and B&Bs across Enniskillen filling up fast, organisers have also launched a unique Beckett and Breakfast initiative with locals across the town offering rooms in their homes so that no one misses out on the chance to enjoy the festival.
More information on rooms available, with prices starting at £20, and tickets for the Happy Days Festival can be found at www.happy-days-enniskillen.com
Running from Thursday 31 July – Sunday 10 August 2014, the Festival, which is now in its third year was founded by director Sean Doran in 2012 and is unique in the world as the only festival solely dedicated to celebrating Samuel Beckett through the full range of the arts, including theatre, dance, film, visual arts, literature and broadcast.
Performances will take place in over 30 locations across the island town of Enniskillen where the Nobel-prize winning poet spent his formative years, as a student at the Portora Royal School.