Waiting for the End of the War - The Creative Background of "Godoh"

The nihilistic and tragic worldview underlying "Altitude" shows that this work is part of the post-war existentialist literature that recognized the absurdity of life and sought to find meaning in it.
“Women sit on the graves, suffering terrible pains, and at the bottom of the pit, workers dig with pickaxes as if in a dream.
People are slowly growing old and the sky is filled with our cries.
Vladimir's line, "But habits deafen our ears," is a prime example.
In fact, the creative background of 『Altitude』 is deeply related to war.

Beckett, an Irishman, used his safe status as a neutral citizen to help his French friends in the resistance movement when World War II broke out in 1939.
Then, the group he was involved in was discovered by the Nazis, and he was forced to hide in Vaucluse (the name of this area appears in the work), a region in southern France that was not occupied by Germany at the time. There, all he could do was wait for the war to end.
Since no one could predict when the war would end, he spent his time talking with other refugees.
As soon as one topic of conversation was started, another had to be found, and this is the style of conversation in 『Godō』.
In this way, Beckett created his work by starting from realistic elements obtained from his own experiences and by extremely simplifying the composition.

The historic first performance: Pascal's Meditations performed by clowns

A desolate stage with only a single, bare tree standing, with no special plot or dramatic events.
That is why when the work was performed at the Babylon Little Theatre in Paris on January 5, 1953, no one expected it to be a success.
In fact, "Altitude" had already been rejected by several other directors, and it is said that the performance began without even the actors being able to give their opinion on the work.

However, when Le Figaro published a review titled “Pascal’s Meditations performed by clowns,” audiences began to flock to the play, and “Gottot,” which was scheduled to run for at most a month, was able to continue its run.
The audience was shocked by the new content and format that were far removed from existing realistic plays, and newspapers and broadcasters attempted to understand the specific meaning of the work through interviews with the writer.
But it was useless.
There is a famous anecdote that when director Alain Schneider asked Beckett at the American premiere who Godot was and what he meant, Beckett replied, “If I had known that, I would have written it in.”

Everyone awaits their own 'altitude'

Some people say that "Altitude" is a difficult work, but the situation of waiting that forms the basis of the work actually has universality because its meaning is not fixed.
When it was performed in San Quentin prison in the United States in 1957 because it had no female characters, the 1,400 inmates surprisingly responded enthusiastically.
They shouted that 'altitude' was "the outside world!" or "bread!" or "freedom!"
Meanwhile, those who saw the play in Poland in the 1960s believed that "Gott" represented liberation from Russia, and when it was performed in Algeria under French rule, landless peasants took it as a play about land reform that had been promised to them but never implemented.

There is also an interpretation that Godot is an abbreviation of the compound word God, which corresponds to the English word for God, and the French word Dieu.
But Beckett said, “Don’t look for God in this work,” and “Don’t even think about looking for philosophy or ideas here.
Just laugh and have fun while watching it.
But after laughing your heart out in the theater, it is your freedom to go home and think seriously about life.”
Ultimately, the meaning of 'altitude' can be seen as depending on each individual who appreciates the work.
Because the text's meaning is thus open, "Godo" continues to be studied and remains a widely loved work.