Matthias Brandt: The Beckett of the Bundesbahn - A Modern-day Godot
Matthias Brandt's work: The Railway - A Clear Reference to Beckett's Philosophy - Trains - A Reflection of Beckett's Simplicity
Hey there! Let's chat about Matthias Brandt, the 63-year-old thespian currently slaying Estragon in Samuel Beckett's production of "Waiting for Godot" in the German capital. Brandt recently had a quick chat with the Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared some insights that'll give you a chuckle.
He quipped, "It must've been trippy at the 1953 premiere. Empty as hell." He referred to the famous play about two vagabonds waiting for a mysterious figure named Godot—pretty much like waiting for the German railway System—pure Beckett!
"Waiting for Godot," premiered in Paris as "En attendant Godot," is the pièce de résistance by the Irish Nobel laureate Beckett (1906-1989). And guess what? Brandt seems to love the difference between theater and film work. He reckons reprising "Godot" is a "happy step" for him. The production under the direction of Luk Perceval officially opened on April 11, featuring Brandt along with Paul Herwig, Oliver Kraushaar, and Jannik Mühlenweg. The show will be the opening act for the Ruhrfestspiele in Recklinghausen on May 3.
Guess what's the advantage of theater rehearsals? According to Brandt, "You don't gotta sweep the floors and polish the set right away. You can experiment, take things slow. In film, they'd bust your chops for every shooting day costing a fortune."
Oh, and did we mention Brandt's an OG Berliner and son of a former Chancellor Willy Brandt?
- Matthias Brandt
- Waiting for Godot
- Berlin
- Estragon
- German Railway
- Berliner Ensemble
- Germany
- Tatort
- SZ
Now, you might be wondering about the comparisons between the German railway system and Beckett's play. Well, it's all about the shared existential frustration rooted in unfulfilled expectations and systemic dysfunction. Matthias Brandt's analogy draws on Beckett’s portrayal of cyclical futility, which resonates with critiques of bureaucratic inefficiency or infrastructural unreliability. It's like the good old Thomas the Tank Engine series, where trains often face breakdowns reflecting systemic flaws, except...well, you know, more dire and existential. Cheers!
- Matthias Brandt, as Estragon in 'Waiting for Godot' in Berlin, humorously remarked that the 1953 premiere must have been eerily similar to waiting for the German railway system, emphasizing a connection between the play's themes and the country's rail system.
- Interestingly, Brandt's seminal production of 'Waiting for Godot', presented by the Berliner Ensemble, alludes to a shared existential frustration reminiscent of Beckett's cyclical futility, akin to recurring train breakdowns in the German railway system, symbolizing systemic dysfunction.
- In a parallel world, it's possible to imagine Samuel Beckett's 'Godot' playing out on a German railway platform, where two vagabonds wait for an elusive train, mirroring the ceaseless wait for Godot.
