City Repertory Theatre
You’ll have to wait until the end of April for this month’s presentation by the City Repertory Theatre in Palm Coast. But it should be worth it considering the play’s title: “Waiting for Godot.”
Okay, pardon the silly theatrical pun. If you want to laugh and cry at the same time, this play is for you.
“Waiting for Godot” is what theatre critics and enthusiasts characterize as a “tragicomedy” as the play contains equally effective aspects of comedy and tragedy. The play’s two characters – Vladimir or Didi and Estragon or Gogo – are homeless. They are waiting near a tree for Godot to arrive. Yet neither know who or possibly what Godot is. During their wait, the pair engage in numerous discussions regarding the issues of life including the fact that no one escapes death, how each person is helpless to stop death from coming, how little control they have over the march of time and how habits have shaped their lives. The two characters use humor to minimize the otherwise sadness of their existence.
Spoiler alert: Godot never arrives.
Some theatrical analysts argue that Godot represents “the unrealized” and leave it to the audience to determine what his or her Godot is to them.
This play written by Samuel Beckett, who was an Irish novelist and playwright who lived in Paris, France, most of his life is two acts.
“Waiting for Godot” is presented April 29 through May 1 and May 6 through May 8.
Friday and Saturday night performances are at 7:30 PM. Sunday performances are at 3 PM.
Tickets are available via the CRT’s website at: www.crtpalmcoast.com. Prices are $20 for adults; $15 for students.
CRT performances are located at the City Marketplace at 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite B207 in Palm Coast. Call (386) 585-9415 for over-the-phone tickets and more information.
Flagler Playhouse
Ditto on the wait until the end of the month for this production.
“Proof” written by David Auburn delves into family, mental health and mathematics.
Catherine has cared for her father — a mathematical genius with mental issues —during his lengthy illness and he is now deceased. As she is beginning to pick up the pieces, her father’s former graduate student, Hal, has discovered a mathematical proof involving prime numbers that if proven true will authenticate her father’s work as well as alter what is known about prime numbers.
The more Catherine digs into her father’s work, the more Hal becomes part of her life. She finds herself in a romantic relationship with Hal in which she discusses her fear of following in her father’s footsteps in mathematical and mental terms. Her desperation to remain in control while completing her own master’s study of mathematics dominates the plot.
“Proof” was written in 1999 at the George Mason Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey during the Next Stage Series for new plays. It was first produced off-Broadway in May 2000 and transferred to Broadway in October of that year. In 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
This play is presented April 28 through May 1 and May 5 through May 8. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 PM; Sundays at 2 PM.
Tickets are available via the playhouse website: www.flaglerplayhouse.com. Tickets are $15 to $20. The Flagler Playhouse is located at 301 E. Moody Boulevard in Bunnell.
According to its website, the playhouse ticket office is not open to the public at this time due to COVID-19 concerns. Phone messages can be left at the business office by calling (386) 313-5876.
Flagler Auditorium
“One Night in Memphis” is a musical tribute to the performance on Dec. 4, 1956, at the Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, when Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins took the stage together. The outcome of that night remains a legend in music history as 1950s rock and roll combined with country, gospel and rockabilly for an impromptu jam session no one expected. Look for Elvis’ classic pork chop sideburns on the face of Brendon Bennett, watch Blair Carman tickle the ivories with his shoe just as Lewis did for the infamous song, “Great Balls of Fire,” while John Mueller sports a classic western cowboy shirt and plays guitar representing Carl Perkins, a prolific songwriter, and Shawn Barker strums an acoustic guitar in the style of Cash, the man in black. Performance is Friday, April 8 at 7:30 PM.
On Sunday, April 24 at 3 p.m., “Splish Splash” — a tribute to the music of Bobby Darin — takes the stage. Las Vegas-based impersonator, Ron Gartner, stars as Darin in the show that covers his lyrical resume from his roll ‘n’ roll days to his performance at the Copacabana in New York smashing all previous attendance records. You’ll take a slight musical detour into country and folk music with songs such as, “If I Were a Carpenter,” and “Dream Lover.”
A look at Darin’s infamous political activism — including his participation in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and his active support of the Kennedy presidential candidacy in 1968. This show is named for his debut no. 1 hit at age 22 in 1958, but be sure there will be a well-earned stop at his signature song, “Mack the Knife” earning a “Record-of-the-year Grammy Award” in 1959 as the tribute show continues with many of his 22 musical hits and numerous film appearances. The Flagler Auditorium Dennis Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center is located on the campus of Flagler Palm Coast High School at 5500 E. State Highway 100 in Palm Coast.