The Night Forlorn (or, Waitin’ on Godsford) 

Reviewed by Neal Weaver 
Theatre West 
Through April 22 

RECOMMENDED 

Steve Nevil’s “tumbleweed comedy” strives to be both a version of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot set in the American West in 1870, and homage to the film westerns of John Ford and Sam Peckinpah — and to a large extent it succeeds on both counts.

Beckett’s two feckless tramps become a pair of rather dim cowpokes, Percy (Jim Beaver) and Elvin (J. Downing), while Pozzo and his downtrodden slave Lucky become a tough, Calamity Jane-like woman, Patsy (Leslie Caveny) and Tag (a shirt-tail boy, though played by a female actor, June Schreiner). Beckett’s Boy, who brings word of Godot, is here a crusty old curmudgeon, John (Robert W. Laur).

The two plays differ in that Nevil takes a much lighter approach, whereas Beckett was sternly allegorical, giving his characters universality by presenting them with no context of time or place.  Nevil’s approach is more improvisational, and more like a realistic character comedy, though it has definite fantasy elements. And Nevil adds a character who does not appear in Beckett’s original, played with magisterial authority by Tom Allard. Both plays become, in their separate ways, existential comedies, but they arrive at their destinations by very different means.

Nevil’s script is funny and imaginative, and director Arden Teresa Lewis seems to have a deep affinity for the material, carefully teasing out all the comic possibilities, and she’s well-served by an able cast. Beaver and Downing make an excellent comedy team as two pals constantly sharing hopes and plans, yet incapable of any real action: their occupation is, simply, waiting —for fate to take them in hand. Beaver’s Percy is the dominant one, but in the end he’s as dependent on Elvin as Elvin is on him. Caveny’s Patsy is tough, robust, and full of get-up-and-go, but she does have some romantic inclinations. And Schreiner’s Tag is a complex figure, now defiant and ferocious, now wistful and thoughtful.

This is not quite Waiting for Godot, but it succeeds in its own right as a provocative and entertaining creation. Actor Downing also created the handsomely stylized prairie set, with its barbed wire fences and wide open spaces.

Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Boulevard West, Los Angeles. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (323) 851-7977(323) 851-7977(323) 851-7977851-7977 or www.theatrewest.org. Running time: one hour and 25 minutes with no intermission.