Director blasts ‘absurd’ Dutch university for CANCELLING his ‘discriminatory’ production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot because he only asked men to audition for male roles

• Oisin Moyne, 24, had been directing a production of Waiting for Godot
• Samuel Beckett’s estate outlines that the play must only feature male actors
• University of Groningen said the production violated their ‘inclusion policy’ 
• Read More:  Student, 19, becomes Miss America’s first ever transgender local pageant winner as critics slam ‘woke’ competition

A young director has slammed a Dutch university for shutting down his production of an all-male Samuel Beckett play after he only auditioned men for starring roles.

Oisín Moyne, 24, from Donegal, Ireland, had planned to stage Waiting for Godot at the University of Groningen’s Usva student cultural centre next month.

The play – which was written in 1949 – follows acquaintances Vladimir and Estragon as they wait for their mutual friend Godot to meet them.

Over the course of two acts, Vladimir and Estragon are joined by three other male characters – which Samuel Beckett’s estate specifically states can only be performed by men.

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen pictured starring in a 2009 production of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot

Speaking to the Irish Times, Oisín – who graduated with a physics degree from the University of Groningen in 2020 – described the past few weeks he has spent fighting the theatre’s decision to pull his play as ‘utterly absurd’.

Although Oisín said he had considered auditioning actors of all genders, the director was constrained by the late Irish author’s estate – which owns the rights to his work until 2059.

Before his death in 1989, the playwright tightened production contracts of his plays – which affect the casting and ban special effects being used. 

Although rehearsals had been underway since November, Oisín said the institution had only recently taken issue with his production ‘violating their inclusion policy’.

The university’s press officer Elies Kouwenhoven said: ‘ [Beckett] explicitly stated that this play should be performed by five men. Moving forward, times have changed. And that the idea that only men are suitable for this role is outdated and even discriminatory.’

They ended their statement by highlighting the institution’s ‘open inclusive community’.

However, Medeea Anton – who was working as a producer – pointed out that the majority of the crew were female.

She said: ‘We also have trans people, we have non-binary individuals, the majority of the production is people from the LGBT community. 

Before his death in 1989, the playwright tightened production contracts of his plays – which affect the casting and ban special effects being used

The play had been due to debut at the University of Groningen’s Usva student cultural centre next month. Pictured the university’s main building in Groningen

‘I tried to explain to them that it is a legal thing, and that we are a small, amateur theatre society, and we cannot afford to be sued. But nothing I could say during the meeting could change their minds.’ 

This isn’t the first time a production of Samuel Beckett’s plays has caused difficulty for directors.

In 1991, a French judge allowed an all-female cast to stage one of Beckett’s plays – however, they were told they needed to read a letter of object from the playwright’s representative before each performance.

Seven years later, Beckett’s estate was able to stop a performance of Waiting for Godot at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as it claimed the ‘production in drag’ could bring ridicule on the author.

Most recently, a 2019 college in Ohio reportedly cancelled their all-female version of the play over fears of a lawsuit from Beckett’s estate.

Waiting for Godot is one of Samuel Beckett’s most popular plays and a 2009 production at the Theatre Royal Haymarket starred Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.

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