John Goodman and David Strathairn Join Waiting for Godot

John Goodman and David Strathairn will join previously announced stars Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane in Roundabout Theatre Company’s upcoming Broadway production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. The production will begin previews on April 10, 2009, at Studio 54 and open on April 30 for a limited engagement, directed by Anthony Page.

Waiting for Godot revolves around two seemingly homeless men waiting for someone—or something—named Godot. Vladimir Irwin and Estragon Lane wait near a tree on a barren stretch of road, inhabiting a drama spun from their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a somber summation of mankind’s inexhaustible search for meaning. Goodman will play Pozzo and Strathairn has been cast as Lucky in a cast that will also include Matthew Schechter Boy.

Known for his long-running role in the TV series Roseanne and for movies ranging from The Big Lebowski to Evan Almighty, Goodman has appeared on Broadway in Big River, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Loose Ends and in the Central Park production of The Seagull. His regional theater credits include Henry IV, Parts I and II, Antony and Cleopatra and As You Like It. In Los Angeles, he starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Strathairn, who received an Oscar nomination for playing Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck, most recently starred in Richard Nelson’s Conversations at Tusculum at the Public Theater. His off-Broadway credits include The Winter’s Tale, Stranger, Ashes to Ashes, Eyes for Consuela, Hapgood, Mountain Language and The Birthday Party. He has collaborated with John Sayles on numerous films, including City of Hope, Matewan and Eight Men Out and just wrapped Julie Taymor’s film version of The Tempest.

The design team for Waiting for Godot includes Santo Loquasto sets, Jane Greenwood costumes and Peter Kaczorowski lights.