Teatro Meron to stage 'Waiting for Godot' in February

Teatro Meron, a relatively new independent Philippine theater group, will stage Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot beginning 13 February. Directed by Ron Capinding, this will be Teatro Meron's third production.

The theater collective, which focuses mainly on classical works, previously staged Sopranong Kalbo, a Filipino translation of Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano, and Ang Medea, a Filipino translation of Euripides’ Medea, both translated by National Artist Rolando Tinio.

The cast will be led by Jj Ignacio as Estragon and Tarek El Tayech as Vladimir, with John Bernard Sanchez as Pozzo, Lenard Tiongson as Lucky, and Yael Ledesma as the Boy.

Written by Samuel Beckett and first staged in 1953, Waiting for Godot is a two-act play that follows Vladimir and Estragon as they spend their days waiting for a man named Godot. While waiting, they fill the time with circular conversations and brief encounters, including with Pozzo and his servant Lucky. Each act ends with the same message: Godot will not arrive that day.

The play examines prolonged waiting, uncertainty, fragile memory, and human reliance on others, presenting time as repetitive and unresolved, without offering clear meaning or answers.

The production will be the second stage play to be mounted at The Mind Museum, as part of the venue’s ongoing initiative to present theater works alongside its science programs and exhibitions. It is co-produced by Eastern Communications and Tunog at Liwanag ng Teatro, with support from Alfred Vargas and the Ateneo de Manila University Department of Philosophy.

Performances are scheduled on 13, 20, and 27 February at 8 p.m.; 14, 21, and 28 February at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and 15, 22 February and 1 March at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Special Exhibition Hall of The Mind Museum in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.