After a start/stop year of theatrics due to the current pandemic, GEDS (aka Geneva English Drama Society) has come back swinging with a classic: Waiting for Godot. We chatted with John Ward, director of the play. Read down to enter the competition for a pair of tickets!
What has been the inspiration to put together Waiting for Godot?
Waiting for Godot was actually the first play I saw in a theatre apart from the odd musical or pantomime. I saw it in a theatre in Cork, Ireland, where I grew up. I had heard of Waiting for Godot before and of course, of Samuel Beckett, the author, though I didn’t know much about him either. I was really struck with how funny it was. Beckett had this reputation for being quite heavy, and indeed his novels and other works are not the easiest of reads but Waiting for Godot wasn’t like that.
It was a funny and touching play about two friends stuck in an impossible situation. It had a wit and charm about it that I wasn’t expecting. When I thought about proposing a play to direct for the Geneva English Drama Society, my first experience and great memories of Godot came back to me. Little did I know at the time that the world would be gripped by a pandemic and the themes of Waiting for Godot would become all the more relevant as the whole world waited to get through the upheaval of the pandemic!
A Tragicomedy in Two Acts
The play is described by the author as a Tragicomedy in two acts and it's basically about two men named Vladimir and Estragon who are waiting at the side of a road for someone named Godot. I don't think I’m giving anything away to say that Godot doesn’t arrive.
However, various other characters pass along the road. A rich landowner called Pozzo and his slave pass by and at the end of each act a boy arrives with a message from the mysterious Mr Godot. The play is essentially about these two characters waiting and how they converse and entertain themselves to stave off the boredom of their situation.
It's never quite clear who Godot is or what he had promised them. The play has been lauded as a profound statement on the human condition in that we are all waiting for something and often we aren’t quite sure what that is. This was the great trick that Beckett pulled off in this play. By stripping the story down to its bare essentials and even a fairly bare stage he produced from a simple story a commentary on the human condition that has made the play world famous.
Despite that, the play is essentially a comedy about two friends trying to cope with the absurd situation they have been cast into. It is also sharpy, energetic, and darkly funny!
We recently met up with a personality on the Geneva Tour circuit, Ariel Pierre Haemmerlé. He is quite well known in the area and has several books under his belt, as well as many years on various associations. One thing we noticed that you could talk about any subject and Ariel Pierre would be able to expand on it! He recently paired with VoiceMap and is offering 4 of our readers to try his tours for free.
Why did you start doing guided tours?
By coincidence: I’ve always been interested in the history of the place I live, so I already knew quite a lot. In 2001, I was working at the Geneva Cantonal Office of Heritage when a lady working at the Carouge City Administration informed me that she was preparing regular guided tours in Carouge and would I like to prepare a tour. I said yes and have never looked back. It turned out that I did this job rather well and it is a passion of mine to this day.
Later, she asked me to do guided tours for the city of Geneva where Geneva Tourism discovered me.
In 2008, there were exams organized by Geneva Tourism which I passed with very good results.
Currently, I give 200 tours a year on average. Only the Covid-19 pandemic brought it to a stand-still.
How did the APP idea come about?
The VoiceMap App is already established in over 250 cities around the world. The company was looking for someone to record Geneva-based tours via the Swiss Tourist Guide Association (of which I was vice-president for six years). I spoke to my colleagues at the Geneva Guide Association (of which I’m vice-president currently), but none of them was interested, but one of us had to do it before someone unqualified would. As the pandemic was fully installed at this point, and I had more time on my hands, I jumped at the chance to be the first to contribute.
I still do tours in person such as "Carouge en zigzag" and welcome locals and visitors to join me. This walking tour is part of the public tour program in Carouge, taking place every Saturday at 11h from June through October since 20 years. It can also be offered as private tour.
We were recently contacted by Moez Annabi about an event he is organizing entitled Firefly Festival. This first edition is taking place on the 17 and 18 September 2021 in Chambésy, Geneva.
We asked Moez a few questions to know more about this inclusif 2-day event made for people of all ages. He explained that his mission is to celebrate the city's diversity and to share this joyous occasion with everyone after the terrible year and a half we've all been through.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
The festival was initiated by myself and 3 friends whilst we were on holiday in Egypt by the Red Sea. We were in the middle of a pandemic and the future appeared more and more uncertain. Despite our doubts, we felt inspired to do something positive for each other and for our community in Geneva.
Have you been working on this idea forever?
It came to us recently. We started working on the festival in April 2021.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
The pandemic was a new challenge, not only for us, but for the entire world. The festival industry is already a difficult business to succeed in and has now become even more challenging due to all the new restraints caused by the pandemic.
What are your plans for the future?
We already have our eye on next year's edition, and hopefully our association will be involved in other projects to come.
A new theater group in Ferney-Voltaire called The Hoops of Iron Players are producing an outdoor show this week. We caught up with Sofie Qwarnstrom to tell us about The Crucible by Arthur Miller.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
Three reasons why The Crucible spoke to me: Firstly, I have made mistakes in my life that caused me to heavily identify with the way that Proctor’s sense of guilt causes him to project his own self condemnation onto his loved ones, and seeing the world around him as punitive because he is punitive towards himself. This creates a wall of distrust between himself and the others and leaves him totally isolated. The way that he gradually learns to act with integrity gives him the confidence to stand straight again and to be the person he wishes he was. The sins of his past served the essential role in shaping who he is then able to become by humiliating him and thereby giving him the necessary humility to take himself apart and to put himself together again.
Secondly, I am worried about the spreading political polarisation in our society and thought it timely to stage a reminder of how easily a community can begin to turn in on itself when all sides of an ideological argument are not respected and given the benefit of the doubt. This applies to the left as well as to the right.
And Last, I also liked the idea of doing an aesthetically minimalist play where all that is needed is a couple of old tables and chairs and a rustic setting. I am blessed to have access to an old, open barn, parts of which date from the time of Voltaire. The history seeped into the walls gives a certain patina of the past to our production.
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
This idea came to me in May, when I was isolated at home, going through a difficult breakup and needing an escape from non-stop online reading and writing for my thesis on psychoanalytical psychology and Shakespeare. The choice of the Crucible was providential: It is the favourite play of one of the actresses, who chased down all the actors she knew to get them to act in this play. This was extremely helpful. Another point on which the stars aligned is that in France, The Crucible happens to be a set text for high school students this year.
I would like to add that the amount of brilliantly talented people who have offered to help set up this play for free (the actors, the help with organisation, the costumes, the live music, the set-building, the lights, the makeup) has melted my heart and I will forever be grateful.
How exciting that the theaters and social events are back... albeit with Covid-19 restrictions. GAOS, Geneva Amateur Operatic Society's chairman, Edward Brown, explains more about their upcoming show, Little Shop of Horrors. Read on to find out how to enter our competition or reserve your tickets before they are sold out.
Overview
Nerdy florist Seymour encounters a strange and interesting plant, which brings him fame, fortune and romance. However, it’s not long before the R&B singing plant unveils its insatiable thirst for blood! Can he beat the odds, rescue the love of his life and save the world? Find out in this 1960s Motown and doo-wop inspired comedy musical.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome to get the show on the road?
It is hard to believe that it has been nearly two years since auditions were held and rehearsals got underway.
The uncertainties of the pandemic – which still linger to this day – forced us to postpone the show on three occasions.
The resilience of the entire production team - more than 40 people - cannot be understated. Their motivation, flexibility and willingness to keep going despite the various twists and turns is to be commended.
I’m sure the show will run shivers up your spine not solely because of the superb set design, the sound and lighting, underpinned by the doo-wop music – but by reflecting on the theme – an unknown organism that takes over the world with deadly repercussions. The plant, built by our own people, with its dancing tentacles is an achievement of artistic and engineering skills that few societies such as ours can match.
