The play people can't wait to see (From Stroud News and Journal)

The play people can't wait to see

Bernard Levin called it 'twaddle', The Guardian called it 'badly written' and audiences at the first performance booed and jeered it. Today it's regarded as one of the defining plays of the 20th Century.

Samuel Beckett's darkly comic masterpiece Waiting for Godot begins its 50th Anniversary celebrations at the Theatre Royal Bath this week with a series of performances directed by Sir Peter Hall.

Hall is the ideal director for this classic of the stage, since it was he who originally championed the play and directed its English language world premiere on August 3rd, 1955.

The story concerns two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, who are waiting on a deserted road for the elusive Godot. As they muse on their lives they encounter Pozzo and his unfortunate servant Lucky, but not the one character theyre most keen to meet.

After its initially mixed reception, the plays combination of tragicomedy, absurdist vaudeville and existentialist angst has been enthralling audiences for decades.

Sir Peter Hall is also directing Bernard Shaws popular comedy You Never Can Tell, running in repertory at the Theatre Royal with Waiting for Godot.

Starring Edward Fox and Diana Quick, You Never Can Tell explores the battle of the sexes, the absurdities of marriage and the generation gap, as an unconventional family collide with the unusual inhabitants of a seaside hotel.

Waiting for Godot and You Never Can Tell are at the Theatre Royal Bath until 3rd September. Tickets range from £12 to £28.