Why are thespians the world over so drawn to "Waiting for Godot," that for many older actors playing one of its leads is as much a matter of professional pride as playing Hamlet is for younger ones?
And why, in a poll by the U.K.'s National Theatre, was this 1953 Samuel Beckett work voted the most significant English-language play of the 20th century?
In a unique upcoming bill at Kanagawa Arts Theatre in Yokohama, audiences will get two distinct, made-for-Japan opportunities to ponder these questions and more, as director Junnosuke Tada stages two versions of the absurdist drama — one set in the Showa and Heisei eras (1926-2019); the other in the newly opened Reiwa Era.