The Forum: Waiting For Godot: The Pl That Changed The Rules Of Theatre

Waiting For Godot is a play by the Irish writer Samuel Beckett which revolutionised 20th century theatre when it was first performed more than 60 years ago.

Often referred to as a play in which nothing happens, it is about two characters who spend their time waiting for a mysterious person called Godot who never appears. Today it is one of the world's most important and best-known plays, and has become a comment on our political and social climate, as its themes of hope and despair have led to it being re-interpreted in a number of conflict situations around the world, from South Africa to Sarajevo.

Joining Rajan Datar is the South African theatre director Benjy Francis who was the first to stage Waiting For Godot with an all-black cast in Apartheid South Africa in 1976; the Irish theatre director Garry Hynes, whose current production of Waiting For Godot is on a world tour; and Professor of theatre at Reading University Anna McMullan, who is also co-Director of the Beckett International Foundation.

• Produced by Anne Khazam for BBC World Service

Publicity contact: EM3