A new production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, directed by James Macdonald, will open in the West End in September 2024 for a limited engagement at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

The cast will be led by Lucian Msamati ("Master Harold" … and the Boys, Amadeus, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) as Estragon and Ben Whishaw (The Crucible, Skyfall, The Hollow Crown) as Vladimir, with further casting, dates, and creative team members to be announced.

Beckett's existential play follows Didi and Gogo, who wait by a tree for a man named Godot. They don’t know who he is, why they are meeting, or what time he is coming—only that something incredible could happen when he does.

In a statement Msamati said, “The wait has been worth it! I look forward to making merry mischief with James Macdonald for the first time and a too long overdue reunion with the creative brilliance and genuine spirit that is Ben Whishaw.”

Whishaw added, “When I was 18, I was doing an art foundation course in Bedford and went one night with a friend to London to see a play that was part of a season of plays by Samuel Beckett at the Barbican Theatre. The play was Waiting for Godot. The next day I dropped out of my art course, having decided I wanted to study acting instead. I am unbelievably thrilled and excited—and a little terrified too—to be having this chance to perform Beckett’s utterly radical and incredibly beautiful play. It has haunted me since that night 25 years ago. And to get to do it with Lucian Msamati and James Macdonald … well, that’s just a dream.”

Waiting for Godot is produced by Kate Horton for Fictionhouse and Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen for Access Entertainment, in association with Kate Pakenham Productions.

Tickets will go on sale in February 2024. Visit WaitingforGodotPlay.com.