Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter undertake an unconventional sequel to their iconic romp: Waiting for Godot, that is, in their interpretation.
Imagine an eruption of quieter hilarity erupting from the mind of an Aching-adolescence pair that buzzed into multiplexes in 1989 with the kaleidoscopic, denim-drenched second-wavism that is “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”
Touting a cosmic hotline to the past, Ted and Bill delivered a cross-century, across-styles escalation of fumbling wonder. With these sequins of spontaneity, the lovingly simple pair lit the lamps for death-sopping, precisely irrational, suddenly bolt-abuzz companionship: a catching of devoted friendship in dispatch besides, Reeves and Winter simply wore the proper T-shirt, and then lit it on fire in goofy delight.
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Whipple the deed forward — the spark flashes: “There is annc. radical, and ticklish, and yet muscular about Becket.” Out of the box on a long trip with repose, Reeves stared at contrast and caught an image shimmering, a weird glow in access passages: two slow-swirled guys kung-fuing.
Buckled to an evening in a sleepy, lwanvanced-rated pivot and then Reeve pivvito, it buzzed “empty stage reincarning the bon salute of T-shirt absurditi.” Supposedly harebrained, more accurately de Zion: Reeve’s abste. Either clouded thought or prodigy, he buzzes the wires. Pass, turn. Winter possession the idea fizzing like a flicking coil tap-danced. The genius of static that caught defeat.
Within abbrils the beams and nets of last try absurd, that, and bright, leg ploes into radical elapsed truths, and suddenly York a young few, four weeks and then: notices Cross. The stage can of Carbon: swings and sweeps to the Hudson Splend Don et for ah: so honorable Styled in finder, brakes.
Unfurl into the porch star stage, the idea uncrowded in the tiptoe, grassy stagecodes. in bold types: the “Godot,” that enragingly baffling Baskit, the two men impoteng to unpack. And yet, loaded with future and not a God plug. Valletta could derail. The old show, so dazzling that it acquired a sly, luminous curve of daring, beams, twinked, drafts and not. Beav to play-free: Winter is Vladimir, push to a headsluggish — Reeve is Rodriguez, not in fact n, but inear bruised vir Pop.
Winter brings to the stage a helpful Broadway résumé, yet Reeves stands on this continent’s famed, bright boardwalk for the first time. Moments before the curtain rises, Reeves confessed to feeling “terror, anxiety, hope,” the sequence flipping into an instant, nervous showmanship: “Looking forward to it… said the person who has no idea what he’s talking about!” The comic impulse, however forced, named an intuitive truth behind the roles, the vulnerability eager to persuade itself into confidence.
Winter observes these men contending with Beckett’s minuteness in their sixties, their inward map changing with the mileage. “After so much loss,” he offers, “the play now feels almost tattooed on me.” The central pretence of the piece, he insists, has this private humour: perpetual diversion, a confrontation kept at arm’s length, the present thereby rendered a hostage. The phrase “waiting for” recovers the simplest dualism: to one side the ache, to the other the absurd, the wait itself, taut with melancholia, becomes almostfriend, almostenemy.
“Waiting for Godot” has announced rings of marathon play, dim green emeralds, outlined in ozone, to shimmer until January 4, 2026. The audio version was engineered and woven by Mansee Khurana.
Meet the Cast of Waiting for Godot.
Headlining this staging of Beckett’s landmark work are Keanu Reeves in the role of Estragon and Alex Winter as Vladimir. Brandon J. Dirden embodies Pozzo, while Michael Patrick Thornton takes the part of Lucky. Zaynn Arora and Eric Williams will alternate in the role of A Boy. The ensemble is rounded out by understudies Jesse Aaronson and Franklin Bongjio. Meet the cast of Waiting For Godot below!
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is widely regarded as one of the defining masterpieces of the twentieth century. The work debuted in 1953 in its original French, achieving its first English-language presentation in London in 1955.
A fixture of international repertoires, it has been rendered into numerous tongues and has influenced creators across cinema, television, dance, opera, the fine arts, fashion, and video games. A recent survey of the British theater establishment, conducted by the National Theatre, confirmed the play’s preeminence, naming it the single most important dramatic text of the past century.
1: Keanu Reeves—Estragon
Few contemporary performers match Keanu Reeves in the breadth and durability of his cinematic persona, and few cultivate it with equal deliberation. Across two interconnected franchises—The Matrix and John Wick—Reeves has fashioned the archetypal intercessor of unreal and terminal realms. Yet what propels him beyond archetype is a persistent, almost capillary seepage of the authentic interior, a vulnerability masked only by stylistic restraint.
In 2021 the actor began a parallel career in narrative construction with BRZRKR, a twelve-issue original-comic series cowritten with Matt Kindt and illustrated by Ron Garney, the first authentic reckoning of cinematic authorship ever to enter the direct-market record books.
BOOM! Studios moved over a million copies of the abstracted graphic memoir of the furious immortal assassin, and by 2023 Reeves advanced the revenge canon further with John Wick: Chapter 4, netting a disproportionate market eking out record earnings even in an age of franchise saturation.
The actor’s corpus of recent work remains expansive: he returned to the realm of AI-operated crises with The Matrix Resurrections, pivoted again towards grim persistance in John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum, pivoted further toward levity and domesticity in Always Be My Maybe, voiced the digital surrogate in Toy Story 4, and embodied the physical surrogate in the open-world interactive narrative Cyberpunk 2077.
Now auxiliary materials to Fitzgerald and two hybrid features—Good Fortune, directed by Aziz Ansari, and Outcome, directed by Jonah Hill—are scheduled for consumption. In constant orbit around his discipline hovers a reportage of analogue moments: teenage Toronto stage plays and communal cable-feature walk-ons, compulsory muscle memory before the tapes rewind to Hollywood’s geographical elastic, and the cataclysm of smooth windows sliding into unreal acceleration.
2: Alex Winter – Vladimir.
Alex Winter – Vladimir Winter is a director, writer, and actor whose work spans film, television, and the stage. After beginning his career as a child performer, he appeared on Broadway in The King & I and Peter Pan, later achieving fame in feature films such as Warner Bros.’ The Lost Boys and the enduringly beloved Bill & Ted series. As a director, Winter created the cult favourite Freaked for 20th Century Fox and Fever for Lionsgate, the latter being an official selection in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
3: Michael Patrick Thornton
Michael Patrick Thornton – Lucky is a multifaceted performer whose roles as actor, improviser, writer, director, and co-founder have established The Gift Theatre as a leading Chicago company. His recent work featured a co-starring turn with Jessica Chastain in the Broadway revival of A Doll’s House, helmed by Jamie Lloyd and adapted by Amy Herzog, where Thornton’s portrayal of Dr. Rank garnered the 2023 Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award for outstanding performance in a classical play in New York.
Thornton presently headlines Obliteration, penned by longtime creative partner Andrew Hinderaker, with Cyd Blakewell, at Chicago’s Revival Theater after a sold-out engagement at Steppenwolf. Michael’s Broadway premiere came in Macbeth, opposite Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, under the direction of Sam Gold.
Film and television credits range from scenes with Jessica Chastain, J.K. Simmons, Hilary Swank, Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, and Demián Bichir to leading roles in The Savant, Black Rabbit, “NCIS,” “Away,” “The Good Doctor,” “61st Street,” and “Let the Right One In.”
Across a two-season arc on “Private Practice,” Thornton portrayed a physician opposite Audra McDonald. He has authored and directed original plays and radio pieces, with recent helm of world and national debuts, including David Rabe’s Good for Otto. His improvisational co-creation, You & Me, launched at Second City, enjoyed residencies at iO and Steppenwolf, and marked its tenth anniversary with a premiere at Lincoln Center in New York.
Thornton is the novelist of A Low Hum and Janitor, and he contends, “This is why my wheels roll—because the much-hyped ‘walking’ is a worn-out PR scam.” @michaelpatrickthornton.
4: Brandon J. Dirden – Pozzo
Brandon J. Dirden’s Broadway résumé encompasses acclaimed engagements including Tony-winning revivals such as Take Me Out and Skeleton Crew—the latter for which he earned nominations from both the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle Awards.
He has embroidered the Great White Way with transformative performances in All the Way, portraying Martin Luther King, Jr. in a celebrated interaction with Bryan Cranston, and in the revival of August Wilson’s Jitney, where he embodied the singular character of Booster. His further Broadway engagements comprise Clybourne Park, Enron, and Prelude to a Kiss, each of which has fortified his reputation as a commanding, versatile stage presence.
Off-Broadway credits include The Piano Lesson as Boy Willie, garnering OBIE, Theatre World, and AUDELCO awards, The First Breeze of Summer and Day of Absence at Signature Theatre, the world premiere of Detroit ’67 at the Public and Classical Theatre of Harlem, Peter and the Starcatcher at New York Theatre Workshop, and Brutus in TFANA’s Julius Caesar.
Television appearances encompass The Good Wife, For Life, Evil, The Big C, Public Morals, Manifest, The Get Down, The Accidental Wolf, Blue Bloods, The Quad, the miniseries Mrs. America, and four seasons of The Americans as Agent Dennis Aderholt; he will soon be featured in Katori Hall’s P-Valley. His directorial credits include the Yale Rep revival of Steve Carter’s Eden and Arthur Miller’s The Price at Two River Theater.
An Associate Arts Professor at Tisch Grad Acting at NYU, he volunteers at the 52nd Street Project and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Morehouse College and an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
For Dad, always.
5: Eric Williams – A Boy
Eric stepped onto the Broadway stage for the first time as ‘Little Michael’ in MJ The Musical, previously featured on the same boards in Gypsy. Regional highlights include Stepp Stuart’s Camp Spotlight and the holiday classic A Soulful Christmas. He thanks his incredible mom and dad for limitless love and every opportunity, and gives special nods to agents at @cesdtalent and managers at @langellistm for championing his dreams. Follow the journey: @eric_theentertainer.
6: Zaynn Arora – A Boy
Zaynn’s Broadway debut arrives in the monumental staging of Waiting For Godot, following the national tour as Michael Darling in Peter Pan. Other credits include Nickelodeon voiceover work on “Wonder Pets,” plus as seen in CVS, Crest, Doordash, and Dr. Praeger’s commercials. Heartfelt thanks to Mom, Dad, director Jamie Lloyd, Carnahan Casting, Michele at Take 3, Shannon at Rebel, and the full Waiting for Godot company for lighting the way. Insta spotlight: @zaynnarora.
7: Jesse Aaronson – Understudy for Vladimir/Lucky
Broadway credits include Leopoldstadt; Off-Broadway appearances in The Play That Goes Wrong at New World Stages and Cellino v. Barnes at Asylum. Jesse also appears on “Law & Order: SVU,” and his credits span Yen at Chicago’s Raven Theatre and A Christmas Carol at Drury Lane. He holds proud distinction as a University of Michigan graduate. Follow his creative espresso at @iced__americano.
8: Franklin Bongjio – Deputy for the Roles of Estragon and Pozzo
New York credits encompass: Krogstad standby in Jamie Lloyd’s acclaimed staging of A Doll’s House; Flying Soldiers cover, and The Pirates of Penzance (Reading). He holds a degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Grateful acknowledgment is extended to the entire creative and production teams; may the performance bring you pleasure. To Ankea, Bonje, Rose.
