Waiting for Godot Prompt Book, 1975

Dublin Core

Title

Waiting for Godot Prompt Book, 1975

Subject

Beckett, Samuel, 1906-1989. Waiting for Godot.

Description

Waiting for Godot : tragicomedy in 2 acts. Annotated by Rick Cluchey on first free endpaper: "1st Prompt-book/Berlin/1975." A presentation copy, inscribed on title page: "With love for Rick/from Sam/Sept. 1988." Cluchey also wrote below Beckett’s inscription: "Rick Cluchey/Samuel Beckett/San Quentin Drama Workshop Godot Production./1963 – 1983/Stage Book." Heavily annotated and underlined throughout by Cluchey.
This prompt book was used for the landmark 1975 Berlin production of Waiting for Godot at the Schiller-Theater that Beckett himself directed and which starred two of the original cast members from the earlier 1965 presentation, though in reverse roles. Beckett had long believed the play to be confusing and clumsily visualized, though, and he used the opportunity to clarify both the text and stage directions. Copiously marked up with colored underlining and autograph notations, the book reveals in vivid detail the extensive revisions Beckett made to his original work, which included dialogue changes, the excision of entire scenes, new directorial emphases, and alterations to the staging. Cluchey witnessed these modifications first-hand, as he had been invited to observe the rehearsals by Beckett, and his faithful notations graphically demonstrate the intimate theatrical tutelage he has begun to receive from the author.
Spec copy 4: In a portfolio and slipcase with Spec copy 5 and Warten auf Godot (Schiller Theater program for German production of Waiting for Godot). 

Creator

Beckett, Samuel

Source

PR6003.E283 E513 1954 c.4 & 5
https://catalog.wustl.edu:443/record=b1014732~S2

Publisher

New York : Grove Press, 1954.

Date

1954-1975

Contributor

Cluchey, Rick

Relation

http://archon.wulib.wustl.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=770&q=cluchey
"Actors in Beckett's Plays" exhibit case
To Jocelyn Hebert, Jan. 19, 1975, from Berlin while directing Godot: "Dear Jocelyn, I have decided I must stop this theatre activity. The way I have to go about it means I can think of nothing else. And the result is quite out of proportion with the efforts I make, so unfitted am I to direct actors." -The Letters of Samuel Beckett: 1966-1989; p. 384

Format

21 cm.
jpeg, 300 dpi

Language

English

Type

Book

Identifier

VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_front.jpg; VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_title.jpg; VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_21.jpg; VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_22.jpg; VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_25.jpg; VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_27.jpg;
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_28.jpg;
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_back.jpg

Extent

60 pages
8 scans

Files

VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_title.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_front.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_21.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_22.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_25.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_27.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_28.jpg
VMF237_waiting_for_godot_first_prompt_book_berlin_1975_back.jpg

Citation

Beckett, Samuel, “Waiting for Godot Prompt Book, 1975,” WUSTL Digital Gateway Image Collections & Exhibitions, accessed April 19, 2024, http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/items/show/14921.