Some areas will premiere the work Jan. 1, check your local listings.
Waiting for Godot, Beckett's most well-known play and arguably one of the most influential works of theatre, focuses on the lives — or lack thereof — of two tramps. Jeremy Irons hosts the premiere of the new film adaptation by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (Whose Life is it Anyway?, Agnes of God, The Boys of Winter). The cast includes Barry McGovern, Johnny Murphy, Stephen Brennan, Alan Stafford and Sam McGovern.
The two-hour "Godot" — airing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the play's stage premiere — is part of the international "Beckett on Film" project which assembled 19 directors over the course of 18 months with a throng of celebrated actors to tackle the task of creating new cinematic adaptations of all 19 of Beckett's stage plays. The four-disc DVD set of Beckett on film is currently available and contains special features that include a documentary: "Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film," a stills gallery, a souvenir book and interviews with John Crowley, John Hurt, Richard Eyre, Charles Garrad, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Enda Huges, Neil Jordan, Anthony Minghella, Patricia Rozema, Charles Sturridge, and Kieron J. Walsh.
The WNET airing of eight of the shorter works earlier this year included "Catastrophe," directed by David Mamet and starring Harold Pinter, Rebecca Pidgeon, and John Gielgud; "Ohio Impromptu," starring Jeremy Irons; "Come and Go," directed by John Crowley and starring Paola Dionisotti, Anna Massey, and Sian Phillips; "Breath," directed by Damien Hirst; "Play," directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Alan Rickman, and Juliet Stevenson; "Act Without Words 2," directed by Enda Hughes and starring Pat Kinevane and Marcello Magni; and "What Where," directed by Damien O'Donnell and starring Sean McGinley and Gary Lewis.
For more information on Thirteen/WNET and their Stage to Screen series, visit www.thirteen.org.