Stephanie Crothers
WAITING FOR GODOT
ABOUT THE PLAY
In a barren landscape beside a tree, a road, a mound and a bog, two companions (Vladimir and Estragon) wait for the arrival of someone named Godot. They pass the time with conversation, games, arguments, memories, and moments of surprising tenderness. Along the way, they encounter the travelers Pozzo and Lucky, receive messages from a young boy, and continue to wait. Little happens, and yet everything happens. The play famously resists conventional plot, inviting audiences to focus not on where the characters are going, but on how they endure the passage of time together.
First performed in 1953, Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is widely regarded as one of the most influential and frequently produced plays of the twentieth century. For more than seventy years, it has captivated audiences around the world and attracted some of the most celebrated actors of each generation. Recent productions have featured Keanu Reeves as Estragon and Alex Winter as Vladimir, while notable past productions have starred Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, Robin Williams and Steve Martin, Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, and Ethan Hawke and John Leguizamo.
Both comic and profound, Waiting for Godot continues to resonate with audiences through its exploration of friendship, hope, uncertainty, and the enduring search for meaning in an unpredictable world.
Meet the Cast
VLADIMIR
Avery Guinn believes theatre is a unique art form that allows audiences to experience stories, questions, and lessons beyond their own lives. He values its ability to spark reflection and encourage people to carry those ideas with them long after they leave the theatre. What he loves most about this play is its exploration of the human condition, its portrayal of what it truly means to care for someone, and the opportunity to collaborate with such a talented and dedicated team of artists.
ESTRAGON
Konner Bendall a native of Russellville, Alabama, earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of North Alabama in 2024. Click here to read more about Konner in a featured article about our show, written by The Times Daily.
POZZO
Spencer Cantrell is a Muscle Shoals native who spent eight years in Los Angeles working in film and theatre. Most notably, he was nominated by Broadway World for a Performance of the Decade Award for his portrayal of George in Of Mice and Men. He is grateful to be part of this production and hopes its proceeds will support the important work of the Village School Foundation. He would also like to note that he is a very big admirer of this evening’s director… wink, wink.
LUCKY
Duell F. Aldridge is a performer from Florence, AL, with a fondness for the absurd. Ill-contented with sitting in the audience and battling boredom with a fervor, DFA often claws a pathway to the stage as an actor, burlesquer, karaoke singer, exorcist, or comedian. Off stage, Duell can be found writing and co-producing for Basement Burlesque, and will, of course, accept your party's nomination for President of the United States.
THE BOY
Mel Fenley is a Shoals-based musician and writer of songs and poems. Mel is a first time actor and is excited to take part in this production of Waiting for Godot.
Meet the Production Team
Director / Producer
Stephanie Crothers is a Los Angeles native, director, actor, and painter who studied theatre at the University of Southern California. Since relocating to the Shoals in 2023, she has become an active member of the local arts community, with a passion for storytelling across multiple artistic disciplines. Recent acting credits include A Few Good Men (Shoals Theatre), In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play (Open Fist Theatre), Under Milk Wood (Open Fist Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Cabrillo College - Santa Cruz, CA), and two consecutive years as Kate Keller in The Miracle Worker at Ivy Green. Stephanie currently works in ticketing and member services at the Tennessee Valley Art Association.
Stage Manager
Amber Anglin has had a lifelong love of theatre and has been actively involved in local productions for the past several years. She has served as both Assistant Stage Manager and Stage Manager for productions such as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and Charlotte's Web at the Ritz Theatre under the direction of Andrew Maples and Laura Ringnell. She has also assisted with The Miracle Worker at Ivy Green. Amber is thrilled to be part of Waiting for Godot and is honored to work with director Stephanie Crothers and such a talented cast.
Village School Marketing Coordinator
Melissa DeOrazio has served as Social Media Coordinator for The Village School since 2021 and has been proud to support its restoration and growing role in the community. What began as a volunteer effort quickly became a passion project after she and her husband, Matthew, relocated from New Orleans to the Shoals five years ago. She is grateful to help share the story of this historic place and the people working to preserve it.
Live Music
The Dirty Rain Revelers are husband-and-wife duo, Matthew and Melissa DeOrazio, who share a partnership in both guitar and vocals. Their music blends roots, blues, and folk influences with a kinetic energy that explores the breadth of the human experience. Lifelong musicians, Matthew and Melissa have been making music together for more than 20 years, performing through a variety of projects, lineups, and musical incarnations.
Village School Executive Director
Greg Harrison has lived in the Village for more than 20 years with his wife, Malinda, and their children. Malinda attended The Village School when it was still known as Brewster School, giving the Harrison family a deep personal connection to its history. In 2018, Greg, along with several neighbors and friends, helped establish the nonprofit organization dedicated to saving the school after decades of vacancy and decline following its closure in 1993. Today, preserving and revitalizing the Village has become Greg’s life’s work. When he is not working on The Village School, he can often be found restoring and maintaining the neighborhood’s historic homes as a general contractor.
A Note from the Director
“VLADIMIR: What do they say?
ESTRAGON: They talk about their lives.
VLADIMIR: To have lived is not enough for them.
ESTRAGON: They have to talk about it.”
As an artist, I've never been interested in staying in one lane. My creative life has taken me through acting, dance, painting, writing, and now directing. What connects all of those disciplines is a fascination with how people connect through stories, and how a whole life can breathe in a gesture, a sigh, a line of dialogue, or a moment shared between a performer and an audience, or just two people walking on a road together.
That fascination is part of what drew me to Waiting for Godot.
Few plays have stayed with me the way this one has. On the surface, it's a play about waiting. Underneath, it's a play about uncertainty, belonging, friendship, endurance, and the strange ways we try to make sense of our lives. Its questions feel as relevant now as they did when Samuel Beckett first wrote it. What do we do when the answers never arrive? How do we keep going when we don't know what's coming next? What do we owe one another along the way?
For me, the answer has always come down to focus and knowing what we can control: the effort we bring, the care we show the people traveling beside us, and the values that keep us whole. I'd argue that one is never without the others.
What began as an independent passion project, perhaps last year, perhaps twenty years ago when I first read the play, quickly became something much larger than myself. This production would not exist without the people who believed in it and chose to build it alongside me.
My deepest thanks go to The Village School Foundation for opening its doors and trusting us with this remarkable space. I am especially grateful to Greg Harrison, Executive Director, whose support helped make this production possible; Melissa DeOrazio, Marketing Coordinator, goddess of grace, guidance, and community connection, whose steadiness carried me more times than she knows; and every friend, colleague, and volunteer who gave their time and energy to help bring this vision to life.
Thank you as well to the Tennessee Valley Art Association, the Ritz Theatre, and The TimesDaily for helping support this work and so many others throughout our community.
To every theatre artist, audience member, and newly made friend who expressed excitement, encouragement, curiosity, or support for this project and the hard-working Shoals theatre community, thank you. Having arrived here just three years ago, I remain humbled by the welcome I have received.
To this cast and crew: thank you for your trust and your willingness to take risks. Beckett's work demands patience, courage, a sense of humor, and a big heart. Every challenge you faced, you met with generosity, creativity, and commitment. I couldn't be prouder of what we built together. It has been a privilege to be your partner in this strange, bleak, hilarious Beckett world.
And finally, thank you to my partner, Spencer Cantrell, and his family. Your belief in me never wavered, even during the moments when my own confidence did. Your support has meant more than I can adequately express.
One of the great gifts of this production has been the reminder that theatre is never built alone. It is built by people willing to share their time, talent, labor, ideas, and faith in something that does not yet exist. Every rehearsal, conversation, volunteer day, flyer handed out, ticket purchased, and word of encouragement became part of what you see here tonight.
In a play about waiting, I found something unexpected: a deeper appreciation for the people who walk beside us while we do.
By the end of the play, Vladimir says, "Let us do something, while we have the chance." After spending the last several months bringing this production to life, I hope you hear this line as an invitation.
Let’s stick together, and stick it out together! Let's keep imagining, connecting, building spaces that promote new growth. And if nothing else, let us do something meaningful, while we have the chance.
Thank you for being here and for supporting live theatre.
Stephanie Crothers
Director
The Village School Foundation
The Village School Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration of this historic 1918 building in Sheffield, Alabama. In partnership with MSNHA, volunteer workdays take place on the third Saturday of each month from March through October.
The Village School Building, constructed during the World War I era, serves as both a historic school and community center and remains the heart of the Nitrate Village One neighborhood, a Garden City development designed by Mann & MacNeille Architects in 1917. The building is owned by the City of Sheffield, with repairs and maintenance managed through a partnership with The Village School Foundation.
Today, the Village School supports a variety of educational and community-focused activities, including lectures, tours for civic organizations and public educational groups, and events featuring music, art, and theatre. The Foundation also provides tours for visiting historians, architects, artists, tourists, and local residents. Continued restoration and repair efforts will allow for the expansion of these educational and community programs in the years ahead.
