Waiting for Godot
By Samuel Beckett

Samuel Barclay Beckett (/ˈbɛkɪt/; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic experiences of life, often coupled with black comedy and nonsense. His work became increasingly minimalist as his career progressed, involving more aesthetic and linguistic experimentation, with techniques of repetition and self-reference. He is considered one of the last modernist writers, and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the Theatre of the Absurd.

Summary:
Waiting for Godot (/ˈɡɒdoʊ/ GOD-oh) is a play by Samuel Beckett in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters while awaiting the titular Godot, who never arrives. Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s translation of his own original French-language play, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only) “a tragicomedy in two acts”. The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. The premiere, directed by Roger Blin, was on 5 January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. The English-language version premiered in London in 1955. In a poll conducted by the British Royal National Theatre in 1998/99, it was voted the “most significant English-language play of the 20th century”.

বাংলায়:
ওয়েটিং ফর গোডো স্যামুয়েল বেকেটের লেখা একটি অ্যাবসারডিস্ট নাটক। এই নাটকে ভ্লাদিমির এবং এস্ট্রেগন নামের দুইজন চরিত্র আবিরত এবং নিস্ফলভাবে গডো নামের একজন লোকের জন্য অপেক্ষা করে। ১৯৫৩ সালে প্রথম প্রদর্শন থেকে নাটকে গোডোর অনুপস্থিতি এবং আরও অসংখ্য প্রেক্ষিত বিভিন্ন ব্যাখ্যার জন্ম দিয়েছে। এটি “বিংশ শতাব্দীর ইংরেজি ভাষায় সবচেয়ে বেশি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ নাটক” হিসেবে বিদিত হয়। বেকেটের ওয়েটিং ফর গডো এর মূল ফরাসি সংস্করণের নাম হচ্ছে En attendant Godot, এবং এটির ইংরেজি উপশিরোনাম ছিলো “a tragicomedy in two acts”.

Characters:

Vladimir
One of the two main characters of the play. Estragon calls him Didi, and the boy addresses him as Mr. Albert. He seems to be the more responsible and mature of the two main characters.

Estragon
The second of the two main characters. Vladimir calls him Gogo. He seems weak and helpless, always looking for Vladimir’s protection. He also has a poor memory, as Vladimir has to remind him in the second act of the events that happened the previous night.

Pozzo
He passes by the spot where Vladimir and Estragon are waiting and provides a diversion. In the second act, he is blind and does not remember meeting Vladimir and Estragon the night before.

Lucky
Pozzo’s slave, who carries Pozzo’s bags and stool. In Act I, he entertains by dancing and thinking. However, in Act II, he is dumb.

Boy
He appears at the end of each act to inform Vladimir that Godot will not be coming that night. In the second act, he insists that he was not there the previous night.

Godot
The man for whom Vladimir and Estragon wait unendingly. Godot never appears in the play. His name and character are often thought to refer to God.