Waiting for Godot Cast Feature in Painting Series

Waiting for Godot Cast Feature in Painting Series By NZ Artist

London-based New Zealand artist Nick Cuthell returns to Wellington this month to show his Waiting for Godot series of paintings at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.

The exhibition, featuring eight oil paintings of characters from Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, opens on 28 June, two days before the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company’s play opens at St James Theatre in Wellington.

The portraits include depictions of Sir Ian McKellen as Estragon, Roger Rees as Vladimir and Matthew Kelly as Pozzo. Following a record breaking season at London’s Theatre Royal, all three actors have reprised their roles for the New Zealand tour of Waiting for Godot. The series of paintings also features a portrait of director Sean Mathias and other cast members who have played the roles in London including Sir Patrick Stewart as Vladimir, Ronald Pickup as Lucky, Simon Callow as Pozzo and George Sear as Boy.

Nick hopes that the Godot series will continue to grow after seeing Brendan O’Hea’s performance as Lucky in Wellington. “I am positive a painting will once again suggest itself.”

Before beginning work on the paintings, Nick sat in on preview performances and dress rehearsals to get familiar with the play and the characters.

“The whole experience of making the paintings was wonderful. As a painter who is keenly engaged in portraiture it was such an interesting experience to paint what is at once both a completely fictional character and also a real flesh and blood human being – an experience that is so unique to theatre.”

The series of paintings was originally shown at the Royal Circle Bar of the Haymarket Theatre in London during the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company’s successful 2009 season and were presented to the actors as opening night gifts, at the suggestion of Sir Ian McKellen.

Since initially viewing Beckett’s play last year, Nick continues to be inspired by it,

“The play contains so much about relationships and time, hope and despair, laughter and terror. There was really so much to draw on when making the paintings.

“I feel the same sense of engagement watching something like Waiting for Godot as I do when standing in front of a classical painting.”

Nick has since been inspired to paint other actors in theatre productions including Anna Friel as Holly Go-Lightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Jonathon Hyde as Captain Hook in Peter Pan.

Despite spending the majority of his time overseas in the UK and Italy, Nick regularly exhibits in New Zealand and has been a finalist in the New Zealand Portrait Gallery’s biennial Adam Awards for portraiture three times over the last six years.

Nick, who is from Wellington but moved to London for love and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, is pleased to be back exhibiting in New Zealand, “It means a lot to me to be able to show my paintings in New Zealand...it is my home.”

The exhibition of Nick’s Waiting for Godot paintings is at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, Queens Wharf, Wellington from 29 June to 3 July 10.30am-4.30pm daily and entry is free. Nick will give a lunchtime talk at the gallery on Friday 2 July at 1pm and posters of the paintings will be sold at St James Theatre during the Waiting for Godot theatre season.

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