WAITING FOR GODOT 2025 Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/12/25 at 12:00am

Call it “Bill and Ted’s Existential Adventure.”

The wait is over: Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter come to Broadway in a fourth revival of Waiting for Godot, directed by Jamie Lloyd. Rounding out the cast of Samuel Beckett’s iconic tragicomedy are Michael Patrick Thornton, Brandon J. Dirden, Zaynn Arora, and Eric Williams. Previews start tomorrow (September 13) before a September 28 official opening at the Hudson Theatre; the limited run concludes on January 4.

“Celebrated actors Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are real-life friends who will be starring on Broadway as two friends searching for meaning in an absurd world. Waiting for Godot is the greatest play ever written about nothing. Nothing and everything. But mostly nothing. Seriously, nothing happens.”

Who’s seeing this one?!

Updated On: 9/13/25 at 12:00 AM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/13/25 at 12:09pm

Looks like Jesse Aaronson (LEOPOLDSTADT) is the standby for Winter and Thornton, and Franklin Bonjio (one of Arian Moayed’s understudies in A DOLL’S HOUSE) will cover Reeves and Dirden.

Also, TodayTix says 2:15 runtime, including a 15-minute intermission.

Can’t wait to hear about tonight and what new tricks Lloyd has up his sleeve! 

 

Updated On: 9/13/25 at 12:09 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 9/13/25 at 1:48pm

MERCH

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/13/25 at 4:37pm

 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 9/13/25 at 11:42pm

How was it???

Also, who played the little boy tonight, Zaynn or Eric?

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 12:13am

That set looks incredible…

and Beckett would hate it? 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 12:52am

Early reports say it does have Keanu in his underwear, so typical Jamie Lloyd.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 12:59am

He's in his boxer briefs for a very short time.  Don't worry.

The set is gorgeous.  Thank goodness there is no single tree. 

Updated On: 9/14/25 at 12:59 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 2:14am

Love the optical illusion of that set and lighting.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 2:26am

That set piece looks stunning. 
Can we also be thankful for a simple t shirt design, just the play’s logo nothing over the top. Simple and perfect! 

[BJR]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 12:43pm

thirtythirtyninety said: "That set looks incredible…

and Beckett would hate it?"

Not only that, but I'm surprised the estate allowed it! Usually the tree is mandatory.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 12:49pm

BJR said: "Not only that, but I'm surprised the estate allowed it! Usually the tree is mandatory."

The estate seemed asleep at the wheel on this one, given the teeny tiny font size of Beckett's name in the early advertising materials for the show...it's custom for the author's name to be no smaller than the director. (That now seems to have been resolved.)

Updated On: 9/14/25 at 12:49 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 12:54pm

Considering how hard they've come down on much less notable productions in the past, perhaps they just see this as too high-profile and lucrative a production to be so strict with? 

[BJR]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 2:01pm

Quite possibly. But famously Maggie Smith and Judi Dench wanted to do it years back but weren’t allowed because it has to be men. I imagine that would’ve been a huge hit and quite profitable. 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 5:44pm

Okay hear me out....I think the set itself is the tree. The tunnel, made out of wood, is evocative (deliberately?) of a cross section of a tree trunk. 

 



 

Updated On: 9/14/25 at 05:44 PM

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 5:51pm

Also, the text does actually call for Estragon's trousers to fall down in act two, so Reeves being in his underwear is, for once, entirely on Becket rather than on Lloyd

[John Adams]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 6:01pm

ChairinMain said: "Okay hear me out....I think the set itself is the tree. The tunnel, made out of wood, is evocative (deliberately?) of a cross section of a tree trunk."

I wonder if it might also evoke the moon,  as in "Two Men Contemplating the Moon"?

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 6:28pm

ChairinMain said: "Also, the text does actually call for Estragon's trousers to fall down in act two, so Reeves being in his underwear is, for once, entirely on Becket rather than on Lloyd"

But having them be dark boxer briefs--pure Lloyd.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 6:49pm

John Adams said: "ChairinMain said: "Okay hear me out....I think the set itself is the tree. The tunnel, made out of wood, is evocative (deliberately?) of a cross section of a tree trunk."

I wonder if it might also evoke the moon, as in "Two Men Contemplating the Moon"?"

I also thought it was evocative of a large eye watching them. 

[John Adams]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 7:39pm

Kad said: "I also thought it was evocative of a large eye watching them."

I was thinking about Beckett's connection with the painting as being the inspiration for the play, but I really like the idea of a watching eye, too.

Updated On: 9/14/25 at 07:39 PM

[BJR]

Posted: 9/14/25 at 10:26pm

ChairinMain said: "Okay hear me out....I think the set itself is the tree. The tunnel, made out of wood, is evocative (deliberately?) of a cross section of a tree trunk."

I think that's exactly right. And a good guess what they told the estate!

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 12:00am

That video of the bows, make it look like the set goes to the very front of the stage. I’m guessing if you’re on the side some of it might be hard to see. 

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 7:06am

This post on the UK board shares an image of a German production that used a sinkhole similar in shape if not spirit.

https://theatreboard.co.uk/post/607495

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 7:16am

rosscoe(au) said: "That video of the bows, make it look like the set goes to the very front of the stage. I’m guessing if you’re on the side some of it might be hard to see."

[The Bandstand]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 8:49am

The last tour of Sunset Boulevard in the UK starting Ria Jones had her in blood at the end.  I think Jamie Lloyd looks at previous productions for inspiration