Vladimir (Waiting for Godot) Vladimir (Waiting for Godot) Vladimir (affectionately known as Didi; a small boy calls him Mr. Albert) is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot". The "optimist" (and, as Beckett put it, "the major character") of "Godot", he represents the intellectual side of the two main characters (in contrast to his companion Estragon's earthy simplicity). One explanation of this intellectualism is that he was once a philosopher. This would explain his constant references and his attempts to engage Estragon in philosophical/religious debate. Vladimir is deeply concerned with appearances, and goes to great lengths to make sure
Waiting for Godot reception was not particularly favourable, with Frank Rich of "The New York Times" writing, "Audiences will still be waiting for a transcendent "Godot" long after the clowns at Lincoln Center, like so many others passing through Beckett's eternal universe before them, have come and gone." The play was revived in London's West End at the Queen's Theatre in a production directed by Les Blair, which opened on 30 September 1991. This was the first West End revival since the play's British première. Rik Mayall played Vladimir and Adrian Edmondson played Estragon, with Philip Jackson as Pozzo and Christopher Ryan as