Sam Walton and Richard Linnell were yesterday revealed as the two boys to join Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup in the cast of Waiting For Godot when it opens in London next week.
The 11-year-olds triumphed at open auditions held earlier this month, beating around 200 other hopefuls to join George Sear and Tom Barker alternating the role of Boy in Beckett’s famous play. Sear and Barker previously played the part during the Malvern stage of the show’s pre-West End tour.
Waiting For Godot, which is directed by Sean Mathias and has its first preview at the Theatre Royal Haymarket today, famously follows two days in the lives of Vladimir (Stewart) and Estragon (McKellen), who, while waiting for the mysterious Godot, divert themselves by clowning around, joking and arguing.
Waiting For Godot marks the West End debut for Walton, who may have been helped in his audition by his lucky socks, but not for Linnell, who previously played Kurt in the recent production of The Sound Of Music at the London Palladium.
MA