On December 15, 2011, Meishi I.B. students put on an excellent play named “Waiting for Godot”, which was directed by Mr. Grant Thoburn, the Film Department Chair of Meishi International Programs. Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett.

Plot:
It opened with two characters on stage--Vladimir and Estragon (“acted by Keith Kim and Charles Zhang”of Meishi International Programs)--who were waiting by a tree. They conversed about many things, calling each other by different names. Although their conversations were long and winding, we discovered that the men were waiting for an enigmatic figure that went by the name of Godot. While they were waiting for Godot to come, two figures approach--Lucky and Pozzo. Lucky (“acted by Katie Lawles” of Meishi International Programs) was in a harness, and Pozzo (“acted by Junaid Ali” of Meishi International Programs) explained that he was a slave. They were going to the market to partake in a slave auction. Lucky had many skills, and he entertained the three men by dancing and thinking. Then Lucky and Pozzo left; Vladimir and Estragon were once again left with their wandering, comic conversations. The end of the day drew near, and a boy (“acted by Matthew Park” of Meishi International Programs) entered with a message from Godot, who said that he would not come tonight, but would come tomorrow.

Although the two men were disappointed, they took the news in reasonably good stead. They said they would leave, but didn't; instead, they continued waiting. The second act followed a similar structure to the first, although it was a darker manifestation of the earlier themes. Lucky and Pozzo once more returned, although this time Pozzo (“acted by Grace Gary” of Meishi International Programs) had been struck blind, and Lucky (“acted by Katie Lawles” of Meishi International Programs) dumb. When questioned, Pozzo said that it had always been thus, and that he didn’t remember meeting the two men a day earlier. （In Act II: Vladimir and Estragon were acted by Murtaza Hasan and Dale Li of Meishi International Programs.）

In the second act, the boy once more arrived, and once more said that Godot would not come tonight, but would come tomorrow. This time, Vladimir raged at the boy--furious with desperation--and determines that the two men would no longer wait. However, as the night drew on, they realized that they could not (or would not) leave and that they would continue to wait for Godot.