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Festival Theatre
May 14 – July 31 |
Opens May 30
Classic

WAITING FOR GODOT


By Samuel Beckett

Directed by Molly Atkinson


The play that changed everything 

On a deserted stretch of land, two old friends wait endlessly for the mysterious Godot, passing the time with conversations that veer from the mundane to the profound. The more they argue, question and complain, the more their predicament begins to resemble that of humanity looking for meaning in an absurd universe.


The 2026 Season is supported by Ophelia Lazaridis.


Support for the 2026 season of the Festival Theatre is generously provided by Daniel Bernstein & Claire Foerster.


Production Co-Sponsors:

M. Fainer
Marilyn Gropp
Doug Kennedy
Dr. Robert & Roberta Sokol

CAST & CREATIVE

CAST

    Portrait of Paul Gross
    Paul Gross
    Vladimir
    2026: Vladimir in Waiting for Godot. Third season. Stratford:King Lear (2023) and Hamlet (2000). Elsewhere: Over a 45-year career, Paul has performed on stages across the country as well as on Broadway, most recently in Good Night and Good LuckFilm/TV: Internationally known for Due South and Slings and Arrows, he has produced, written, directed and/or starred in a number of films and series including the hit films Passchendaele, Men with Brooms and Hyena Road. Awards (selected): Order of Canada, Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Honorary Doctorate (York University), Distinguished Alumni Award (University of Alberta) and multiple Dora and CSA awards.
    Portrait of Tom McCamus
    Tom McCamus
    Estragon
    2026: Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and Estragon inWaiting for Godot. 19th season. Stratford (selected roles): Macbeth, Richard III, Coriolanus, Edmund Tyrone, Macheath, King John, King Arthur, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vershinin, Brutus, Captain Hook, Valmont, Friar Lawrence, Aslan, Horace Vandergelder, Judge Brack, Arthur Miller. Elsewhere (selected roles): Shaw: Peter Pan, Androcles, King George III, Charles II, Ephraim Cabot. Toronto and environs: Hamlet, King Lear, Leontes, Angelo, Claudius, Thom Paine, Rhett Butler, Marc Blitzstein, Mozart. Film/TV (selected):I Love a Man in Uniform, The Sweet Hereafter, Long Day's Journey into Night, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Room, Orphan Black, Anne with an E. Awards: Dora Award, Genie Award, Gemini Award, ACTRA Award. Et cetera: Tom lives on a farm in Warkworth with his wife, Chick Reid, and their two dogs.
    Portrait of Jonathan Goad
    Jonathan Goad
    Pozzo

    Birmingham Conservatory, 1999

    2026: Caliban in The Tempest and Pozzo in Waiting for Godot. 19th season.

    Portrait of David W. Keeley
    David W. Keeley
    Lucky
    2026: Uncle Ben in Death of a Salesman and Lucky in Waiting for Godot. 10th season. Stratford: Kent (King Lear), Poseidon (Trojan Women), Flores (Fuente Ovejuna), Jud (Oklahoma!), Horatio (Hamlet), Clarence/Richmond (Richard III), Cominius (Coriolanus), Nathaniel (Love's Labour's Lost), DeFlores (The Changeling). Elsewhere: David, Dinner with the Duchess (Here For Now/Crow's), Father Christopher, Children of God (Urban Ink); Singer, Leonard Cohen: The Secret Chord (Soulpepper); Dad, Billy Elliot (Mirvish); Dennis, Rock of Ages (Mirvish); David, True Love Lies (Factory Theatre); Officer Lockstock, Urinetown (CanStage); Sam, Mamma Mia! (Broadway). Film/TV:The Terminal List, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, 10 Truths About Love, Albatross, Murdoch Mysteries, Heartland, Akilla's Escape, Good Witch, Suits, Designated Survivor, Who Killed Jon Benet, Republic of Doyle, Saving Hope, Copper, The Manchurian Candidate. Recordings:Two Houses, Love and Carnage, Gasoline Rainbows. Awards: Dora Award Urinetown (CanStage); Best Actor Albatross (Austin International Film Festival). Online: davidkeeley.ca.
    Portrait of Paul Dunn
    Paul Dunn
     2026: Appears in The Tempest and understudy in Waiting for Godot and Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Ninth season. Stratford (selected): Highlights include Witch 2 in Macbeth, John in Peter Pan, Ptolemy in Caesar and Cleopatra, Octavius in Antony and Cleopatra, Biondello in Taming of the Shrew, Launcelot Gobbo in Merchant of Venice, Fabian in Twelfth Night, Harry in Elizabeth Rex, and The Prodigy in Glenn. Playwright of High-Gravel-Blind (Studio Theatre). Elsewhere (selected):The Donnellys Trilogy: Sticks and Stones, St. Nicholas Hotel, Handcuffs (Blyth); Wildfire (Factory); Bed and Breakfast (Arts Club, Centaur, GCTC, Belfry, Globe); The Gay Heritage Project (Buddies in Bad Times and national tour); Tartuffe (NAC); TomorrowLove (Outside the March); Vigil (TNB); HAIR (Grand); East of Berlin (Tarragon and national tour). Film/TV:Murdoch Mysteries, Elizabeth Rex. Awards: John Hirsch Award. Training: National Theatre School, Grant MacEwan Theatre Arts.

    Portrait of John Kirkpatrick
    John Kirkpatrick
    2026: Appears in The Tempest, understudy in Waiting for Godot and Saturday, Sunday, Monday. 12th season. Stratford:The Winter's Tale; Macbeth; Twelfth Night; London Assurance; Reynaldo, Hamlet; Endicott, The Front Page; Walter Cunningham Sr., To Kill a Mockingbird; Lt. Brannigan, Guys and Dolls; Apothecary, Romeo and Juliet; Doctor, Macbeth; Oliver, As You Like It; Deuxfois, The Hypochondriac; Marcellus/Fortinbras, Hamlet; Boyet, Love's Labour's Lost; Descartes, Christina, the Girl King; Red Knight/Walrus, Alice Through the Looking-Glass. Elsewhere: Jaques, As You Like It; Cassius, Julius Caesar; Lucio, Measure for Measure (Citadel); Slim, Of Mice and Men (Canadian Stage/Theatre Calgary); Tybalt/Friar Laurence, Romeo and Juliet (Theatre Calgary); Everard, Age of Arousal (ATP); Milan, Rock 'N' Roll (Canadian Stage/Citadel); Kent, King Lear; Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Twelfth Night (Freewill). Training: BFA Acting, University of Alberta. Et cetera: Former Artistic Director, Freewill Shakespeare Festival. All my love to Breanna, Aidan, Finn and Betsy.
    Portrait of Gordon S. Miller
    Gordon S. Miller

    Birmingham Conservatory, 2002

    2026: Antonio in The Tempest, Luigi Ianniello in Saturday, Sunday, Monday and understudy in Waiting for Godot. 16th season. Stratford (selected): George Tesman (Hedda Gabler), Anthony Calderon (Salesman in China), Calogero Di Spelta (Grand Magic), Don Armado (Love's Labour's Lost), Iago (Othello), Dr. Caius (The Merry Wives of Windsor), James Tyrone Jr. (Long Day's Journey Into Night), God the Son (Paradise Lost), Pentheus (Bakkhai), Laurent (Tartuffe), Biondello (The Taming of the Shrew), Scrub (The Beaux' Stratagem), Andrei (Three Sisters), Apollodorus (Caesar and Cleopatra), Roderigo (Othello), Flaminius (Timon of Athens). Elsewhere: Ruby and the Reindeer (Here For Now); A&R Angels (Crow's Theatre); Pride and Prejudice, Robin Hood (Globe Theatre); A Doll's House (Montgomery/TNB). Film/TV: Fargo, Suits, Republic of Doyle, Murdoch Mysteries, BOTS. Training: National Theatre School of Canada; Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Awards: Tyrone Guthrie Award, John Hirsch Award, and the Richard Monette Travel Grant.

    Portrait of Emilio Vieira
    Emilio Vieira

    (he/him)      

    Birmingham Conservatory, 2015/2016

    2026: Assistant director and Rocco in Saturday, Sunday, Monday, appears in The Tempest and understudy in Waiting for Godot. Ninth season. Stratford (selected):Macbeth, The Winter's Tale, London Assurance, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Richard II, Grand Magic, Love's Labour's Lost, Richard III, The Miser, The Tempest, Coriolanus, Napoli Milionaria!, A School for Scandal, Tartuffe, Macbeth, All My Sons, Bunny. Elsewhere: Fulfilment Center (Coal Mine Theatre); HEIST (Grand Theatre); The Three Musketeers (RMTC); february: a love story (Globus Theatre); Two Noble Kinsmen and Cymbeline (Shakespeare BASH'd); Towards Youth: a play on Radical Hope (Crow's Theatre); Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare in High Park); Tartuffe (Canadian Stage); Coriolanus (Dartmouth, New Hampshire). Training: Emilio trained under the direction of Martha Henry and Stephen Ouimette in the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre. Thank you for supporting live theatre. Online: @emiliovieira.

CREATIVE

PLAY SCHEDULE

24 Remaining Performances
Take advantage of various special deals to save on tickets!
Thu, May 14
2:00 PM
Mon, May 18
2:00 PM
Fri, May 22
8:00 PM
Wed, May 27
8:00 PM
Sat, May 30
8:00 PM

FESTIVAL THEATRE  
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