I remember feeling a little confused but mostly amused by Beckett’s two-act play when I first read it in my late teens. I’m not sure what prompted me to reread this play more than a decade later, but I still found this tragicomedy just as appealing as I did in the past, perhaps even more now. Waiting for Godot is absolutely a play that is meant to be seen performed rather than simply reading it, especially considering how little seems to happen. So much goes into the way the actors carry themselves on stage as they spiral over the meaninglessness and absurdities of life, as well as the Sisyphian-like suffering of it all as we wait… for what (or who), exactly, no one really knows.

The impact that the Second World War had on so many writers’ works is probably incalculable, with Beckett being one of them. The existential nature of everything—especially after living through and surviving a hellish war—became all the more palpable, which I felt was captured phenomenally in this play.

I have a soft spot for Waiting for Godot, especially after having seen the play performed by two world-renowned actors as Vladimir and Estragon. Perhaps ironically, I also find this play to be a meaningful one because of its focus on the meaninglessness of everything. I really do think it’s well worth the time to watch a performance of it (or even listening to an audiobook) as opposed to reading the text alone.