Wait for Godot no more Shakespeare in the Ruins performing Samuel Beckett classic along with Macbeth By: Ben Waldman Posted: 5:10 PM CST Friday, Mar. 7, 2025

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This article was published 07/03/2025 (534 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time since 1996, Shakespeare in the Ruins is set to produce a live staging of Macbeth in St. Norbert, while the endless wait for the company to take on Godot will finally come to an end.

On Friday, artistic director Rodrigo Beilfuss announced the company’s upcoming season, featuring both shows running in repertory in June and July.

“I think we’re ready for tragedy,” says Beilfuss, who has mostly programmed comedic material, such as Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Daniel Macdonald’s Iago Speaks, since the dawn of the pandemic five years ago.

Enter the Scottish play, for which the company, founded in 1993, has assembled an excellent cast to work in a promenade setting under first-time company director Emma Welham.

Darren Martens takes on the title role, with Lindsay Nance playing Lady Macbeth. Tracy Penner plays Banquo and Lady Macduff and Ray Strachan will be her Macduff.

Tom Keenan is Duncan, Liam Dutiaume is Malcolm and Mackenzie Wojcik is Ross, with those performer also portraying the three witches.

It’s been 29 years since the ruins provided the backdrop for the classic drama, but the company produced a well-received filmed version in 2023.

Starring Julie Lumsden and Strachan, the company’s first feature-length film won best in class honours from the Carmarthen Bay Film Festival in Wales.

The company has never taken a stab at Waiting for Godot — Samuel Beckett’s illusory, elusive landmark production — but Beilfuss says he was encouraged by an unexpected wave of enthusiasm for the play on Broadway, where Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure co-stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are starring in a production this fall.

It’s also been recently well-received in the United Kingdom, where Ben Whishaw’s and Lucian Msamati’s embodiment of Estragon and Vladimir led the Guardian’s Michael Billington to wonder whether the world was finally prepared to meet Beckett’s work where it was at.

“There’s something in the air, and I’m happy we’ll be able to catch it,” says Beilfuss, who calls Godot a play about inertia, making it a natural partner and complementary masterwork when held up as a mirror to Macbeth’s incantatory action.

“I think it will be a good chance to give local artists, and particularly emerging artists, the chance to dig into these amazing, difficult and wonderful texts.”

As director of Godot, a show that stays put and doesn’t involve audience movement, Beilfuss will put Arne MacPherson (Vladimir), Cory Wojcik (Estragon), Keenan (Pozzo), Dutiaume (Lucky) and Mackenzie Wojcik (A Boy) through their paces.

Working on both productions under Beilfuss and Welham will be the creative team of Christine Leslie (assistant director), Lovissa Wiens (set and props design) and Anika Binding (costume design).

Designed around concepts of destiny, Shakespeare in the Ruins’ season will begin on June 5 with the opening of Macbeth, followed by Godot on June 13. Running in repertory, tickets for both productions are available now at shakespeareintheruins.com.

“We sold out very quickly last year with Dream, and these shows are ones people always want to see, so our message is to secure your tickets early because they’re very limited,” says Beilfuss.

Rehearsals begin the last week of April, after which the cast and crew will head to the Trappist Monastery Ruins in St. Norbert in the middle of May to adapt the works to fit the grounds.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com

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