Dagblad van het Noorden reports that De Vewondering, a ship that now serves as a small theatre, has offered to put on the show from 7 to 9 April, and Der Aa-Theater has told the students they are welcome to stage their production there on 21 and 22 April.
UPDATE: According to the Groninger Internet Courant, GUTS has also been invited to do the show at the Badhuistheater in Amsterdam.
Original story continues below
GUTS, which stands for Groningen University Theatre Society, is connected to the English Language and Culture department within the Faculty of Arts. The group performs English-language plays, and has been putting on theatrical productions as far back as 1968.
Bram van Beek, the secretary of GUTS, told the Dagblad that they have received other offers for performance spaces in the region.
The decision not to stage the play drew international attention. Usva, the student cultural and performing arts center associated with the University of Groningen, declined to host the play due to women not being allowed to audition.
Preventing women from being considered from the role was due to Beckett himself. Samuel Beckett, an Irish playwright, wrote the absurdist play in 1953, and stipulated that only male actor could play the roles.
On Monday, 13 February, the students released a statement on Instagram addressing the media attention their production has drawn.
“Inclusivity is very important to GUTS; it has become a staple of the association”, the statement read. “[Gender-swapping and same-sex attraction] are things that make theatre interesting and inclusive to everyone who loves theatre.”
“We have anxiously observed GUTS be associated with things by the media that we fully or partially disagree with”, the statement continued. “We want to clarify that GUTS is in no way against inclusivity but that with our passion for theatre, we wish to provide a platform from which any type of play can be pitched.”
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In 1988, another Dutch theatre group encountered resistance from Beckett when they planned to stage an all-female production of the famous play. Since Beckett’s death in 1989, his estate has vigilantly respected his wishes, refusing to grant permission for performances of the play that involve anyone other than men in the cast.
According to The Guardian, Beckett’s stated objection to women playing the roles was that they do not have prostates: in the play, one of the characters frequently leaves the stage to urinate. It is implied (never stated explicitly) that this is due to the common issue that ageing men face, namely enlarged prostates making them need to pee more frequently.
Photo source: Performance of “Waiting for Godot” in Avignon, 1978. (Wikipedia).
