A drama critic for the New York Times, Schumach examines Waiting for Godot's character motivation in this article, drawing on the perceptions of the actors who appeared in the play's original Broadway run.

Now that Waiting for Godot, a two-act tract with four men, one boy and countless interpretations, has been repatriated to Europe as part of the United States drama program at the Brussels World's Fair, an international signal has gone out to extol or deride the most controversial play since World War II, of which its author, Samuel Beckett, said: "I didn't choose to write a play. It just happened that way."

Other things that have happened since the play's stormy Paris debut in 1952 called by Jean Anouilh "as important as the premiere of Pirandello in 1923" include a ban against any stories or advertising of the show in Spain; near-cancellation in the Netherlands averted by...