Juan Paulo M.

Santos

LIT14-R62

March 20, 2015

The Power of Consciousness

The realization of one’s true purpose in this world is definitely the most important goal that one

has to work for in his life for it is through finding this purpose that would actually give him the motivation

to keep on living. Failure to find such purpose will result to some emotional imbalance and to some extent,

an existential crisis. This existential crisis will cause the person who is suffering from it to often question

himself and if certain circumstances apply, his alignment to his religious belief on what really is the purpose

to keep on living and sustaining one’s self to survive longer in this world. With the harsh definition of this

type of crisis already in order, it is easy to say that such psychological and emotional disease should be

avoided as much as possible. In the play entitled, “Waiting for Godot” by Tanghalang Ateneo, it is truly

evident that the theme of existential crisis is being tackled from how the play’s actors spoke their lines to

even the smallest of details of how the platform was arranged from scene to scene. The play also had a habit

of repeating certain events with only a few minor changes done within them and this repetitive nature of

the play signifies the slow, yet sure breaking down of the sanities of the two main characters whose names

are Didi and Gogo.

The actors in a play definitely play the biggest roles in its success. These actors are the one that

give the audience what they came to watch the play for and that is entertainment. This entertainment can

come in many forms. It may come in the form of comedy where the actors make exaggerated actions

depending on their situation or if possible, simply a certain chemistry between the two actors which make

their every action, even if done not intending to make the audience laugh, will proceed to do so. It may also

come in the form of mystery where the actors words; or in this case, lack of words, are the ones that conceal

details in the play that will make a huge impact later on in its later stages. Whatever form the entertainment
may take hold of, the play’s actors are still the main decider of whether or not the entertainment audience

are looking for is going to be provided to the audience. This is also not attainable if done only by a single

actor. It is through the communication of two or more actors that this entertainment is achieved. As seen

from the how Paolo Apagalang portrayed Didi and how Xander Soriano portrayed Gogo, their relationship

in the play is a very distinct one. They go from being close friends to ignoring each other then back again

to being close friends. This transition of their relationship from one status to another clearly shows to the

audience how the play is going to be repetitive not only through its events, but also its characters. Their

ever-changing relationship does not necessarily mean that their relationship is fragile for not being able to

withstand simple arguments, but this only shows the contrast between their relationship and the events that

will happen in the play which are known to be somewhat repetitive. Didi and Gogo from the start of the

play had unusual arguments whether or not Godot will actually come. These arguments led to Didi being

skeptical on wasting his time on waiting for something that is not even sure will come while Gogo, being

the enthusiastic person that he is as portrayed by Xander, kept holding on the hope that Godot will

eventually come if given enough time. This contrasting belief on Godot’s arrival has led to the two

character’s relationship to be distant enough that they start to search for change like how Gogo travelled

away from Didi, but still close enough that they will still end up being together in the end. The play wanted

to show that no matter how hard the two try to change something in their lives, it will still end up the same

and this made an impact to how the two perceived the world around them. Due to the fact that it seems to

them that nothing ever changes, the consequences of their fixed lives creeped up to them and started

working on their mind’s breakdown. It clearly shows how the monotonous events in the play gave Didi and

Gogo a thought that living the remainder of their lives is not worth it anymore because nothing will be

attained for, at the end of the day, everything will be repeated to repeat all over again. This melancholic

thought was shown at the end of the play when Didi and Gogo sat still in the middle of the platform with

back against each other’s backs somehow showing that the two gave up hope in the arrival of Godot and in

any possible change in their lives.

 At the start of the play, the audience were not told whether it was day or night. The lights of the

play by Ninya Bedruz were enough to make the characters and the props visible, but is not enough to show

that it is day. They were just given the information that Didi and Gogo we already waiting for Godot for a

long time based on how the characters were acting weary and tired of waiting for him. The ambiguous sense

of time that the play has can actually be referred back to how monotonous the events that are happening

around the two characters. It seems that the events in the lives of Didi and Gogo are not the only ones that

are fixed. According to what the lighting shows to the audience, it seems that even time, itself, has stopped

and may be a possible factor to why things keep on repeating. It does not necessarily mean that if time

stopped for Didi and Gogo that it has stopped for everyone else. It may be that due to the fact that time took

its toll on the minds of Didi and Gogo that everything else is skewed in their perspective. It seems to them

that time is moving at a normal rate, but in reality, the events are actually just keep on repeating and

repeating and they never noticed even at the end of the play. Given that I had the knowledge on this, it just

shows that the effective use of lighting managed to differentiate day from night for the audience to depict

how Didi and Gogo lost their sense of time.

As what was previously stated, the events in the play were simply repeating itself and it was proven

by the fact that the events happened consistently in order within the span of 2 “days” taking note that day

may not be the most suitable unit of measurement in Didi and Gogo’s case. After the small fight of Didi

and Gogo, they will be back together, then Lucky and Pozo arrives to talk to them for a little while. Shortly

after they left, a messenger appears to tell Didi and Gogo that Mr. Godot will not be able to make it to them

that day and that he will surely come the next day. This happens again the next “day” with only a few minor

differences. This situation that the two are in shows the non-existence of time and that they are forced to

live the same events over and over again for the rest of their lives knowing that their wait for Godot is

already useless and in vain. The situation played gave the audience mixed feelings of sympathy and

loneliness. Sympathy, because they feel sorry for what the two are experiencing and loneliness because

they know that it will never stop repeating itself. From the almost non-existent change in the stage to the
always existing tension between the characters and the situation that they unconsciously are in, the situation

of the two are built upon the limited knowledge of the two characters about their lives and the near-

omniscience that the audience have for being able to see almost everything that happens in the play. With

the limited knowledge that the two characters have, they kept on progressing towards a clouded goal only

to find out the goal they were going for was the line on which they started. Nothing could make anyone

more insane than knowing that the goal they worked hard for were all for nothing and Didi and Gogo were

not exceptions to this.

Overall, the play managed to set a standard for all other plays to follow. With its ambiguous theme,

it managed to capture its audience to feel like they themselves were in the soles of Didi and Gogo. This

immersion was further nourished by the external factors that the play had. From the sound effects played

in certain situations, props placed randomly or in a specific place to most minimal detail like how intense

the lighting should be the give enough light to make the characters visible, but not enough to maintain the

indefinite time that the play had. One thing for certain is that Tanghalan Ateneo’s set A for the play “Waiting

for Godot” was as good as how the ending of the play itself is built upon the imagination of the audience.