Modernism is us. Today. For the past two decades plays by Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter — which once upon a time bewildered their audiences and gave critics apoplexy — have become big West End hits.

Waiting for Godot at Theatre Royal Haymarket review: the best staging of this challenging classic I’ve ever seen - 4/5 Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati take this production to a whole new level

James Macdonald’s West End production of Samuel Beckett’s existential tragicomedy began its previews last week at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, and will run through to December 14.

A country road. A tree. Evening. Two figures commiserate with each other’s woes. “Nothing to be done”. We have to wait 35 years to receive a really revolutionary new take on Waiting for Godot: Samuel Beckett’s estate still has too much power over any revival of the 20th century classic.