Probably my favourite college drama production was Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Classified as theatre of the absurd, his play is described as a tragicomedy in two acts. It has also been described as a play in which nothing happens - twice. It is true that nothing really happens to the two vagrants that meet and spend their days hoping that Godot will arrive. The characters do go through a whole gamut of emotions, from ecstasy to despair, but the play ends on a low key of helplessness and hopelessness. There are lines that stay with me after all these years and recently having seen Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan performing it on stage, the times and circumstances of that college production came flooding back.
What got me onto this was a walk with my grand daughter this morning. She needs her nap and I need some exercise and coupling the two is a joy for me. We have a circular route along a woodland path, and by the time we are less than half way, she is usually asleep. Like most urban areas the place is well provided with litter bins and bins for the deposition of dog turds. It is illegal to allow your pet to poo in public places and responsible dog owners carry plastic bags to pick up the nasty stuff, and most either take it home or place it in the bin provided. However it seems that however the community makes provision to assist people, there are still those who prefer to do things their own way. What makes people think that it is a good idea to festoon hedges with little bags of dog shit? What do they imagine becomes of them? Are these the same people that throw empty bottles and cans around the streets, or vandalise public places? Maybe they think that their behaviour is acceptable, not having any sense of community or even decency.
There are elements of our society, who, in true Thatcher style, are totally selfish. For them, there is no such thing as society or if there is it is not one that I'd want to be part of. We are fragmenting, of that there is no doubt and there is a whole generation growing up without criticism or the experience of failure. The media suggests that the only worthwhile people are ephemeral pop stars and football players. Sucked in by celebrity, eschewing learning and knowledge for its own sake, people are, in Beckett's words, bloody ignorant apes.
What got me onto this was a walk with my grand daughter this morning. She needs her nap and I need some exercise and coupling the two is a joy for me. We have a circular route along a woodland path, and by the time we are less than half way, she is usually asleep. Like most urban areas the place is well provided with litter bins and bins for the deposition of dog turds. It is illegal to allow your pet to poo in public places and responsible dog owners carry plastic bags to pick up the nasty stuff, and most either take it home or place it in the bin provided. However it seems that however the community makes provision to assist people, there are still those who prefer to do things their own way. What makes people think that it is a good idea to festoon hedges with little bags of dog shit? What do they imagine becomes of them? Are these the same people that throw empty bottles and cans around the streets, or vandalise public places? Maybe they think that their behaviour is acceptable, not having any sense of community or even decency.
There are elements of our society, who, in true Thatcher style, are totally selfish. For them, there is no such thing as society or if there is it is not one that I'd want to be part of. We are fragmenting, of that there is no doubt and there is a whole generation growing up without criticism or the experience of failure. The media suggests that the only worthwhile people are ephemeral pop stars and football players. Sucked in by celebrity, eschewing learning and knowledge for its own sake, people are, in Beckett's words, bloody ignorant apes.
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