Until I turned 12, I was educated in the French educational framework, where theatre meant Molière, Corneille, Racine. Going to the theatre usually meant shows such as The Sound of Music or My Fair Lady. Then, a decision was made that I would transfer to an English school. So, at age 13, I arrived at Westminster School. It was 1968, and the world opened up.
I attended a student performance of Waiting for Godot in French in a small room with a modest platform, and I was sitting at the rear. In terms of music, I was pretty sophisticated – I already knew all the experimental sounds that had been emerging. I’d experienced the Mothers of Invention. I’d seen lots and lots. But I didn’t know there was stuff like this. I quickly realized that, just like in music, there was a completely different realm out there.
I am unsure how good the French was, but it really didn’t matter what they were expressing. It was just so abstract and vibrant, with a kind of built-up suspense. And then, of course, it erupts with Pozzo and Lucky’s arrival. The performance was put on by senior students, including a talented actor as Lucky. He was a commanding figure on stage. And he must perform that highly elaborate speech. In French. It was astonishing.
I loved the idea that nothing really had to happen, you know? That one thing happened and then it continues endlessly and then you have the young messenger at the end stating that Godot won’t be coming today. It addressed temporality and activity and plot. Or their absence.
We had been taught all these guidelines about what drama was, but none of them applied here. I was deeply intrigued by the minimal action. Much later when I was producing music, I would try to turn them into something similar. When a fresh sound came in, I’d pull out other instruments and intentionally highlight them. So you clearly perceived that piano or that guitar or whichever element. That sense of less is more … I learned that with Godot.
And yet it possesses a narrative. It really does. I mean, they are fully realised characters. They are so alive, Vladimir and Estragon, in their love for each other, like an long-term partners. I can’t say how my life would have evolved if I did not attend that show. To that school and that show then. It just awakened something in me.
We were let out on weekend days, and I started going afternoon shows at the Royal Court every time there was a new production. So you would see Pinter, John Osborne, Simon Gray plays. But the gateway to all of this was Godot.
I have minimal memory of the actual show, except I know that it was never boring – it had me at the edge of my seat. What I took away is that there don’t have to be any rules. It definitely influenced how I collaborated with the artists that I signed to Ze Records. I even had the musical group compose a track around that famous phrase. I just instructed them: “I want a song with that name.”
I think it boosted my confidence, too, because you don’t need to worry about failure if you embrace the playwright’s philosophy.
