Waiting for Godínez
A Tragicomedy in Two Acts
Book • 2025
Waiting for Godínez is Daniel A. Olivas’s stage reimagining of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, set against the backdrop of modern immigration enforcement.
The play keeps Beckett’s absurdist sensibility while making explicit the human consequences of raids and family separations, with characters repeatedly snatched by ICE and returning, echoing Beckett’s cyclical suffering.
Olivas mixes humor with pathos to give voice to undocumented performers and audiences who see their experiences reflected.
Productions and readings have elicited strong emotional responses, underscoring theater’s power to humanize marginalized people.
The play uses absurdity to critique policy and to provide catharsis and recognition for affected communities.
The play keeps Beckett’s absurdist sensibility while making explicit the human consequences of raids and family separations, with characters repeatedly snatched by ICE and returning, echoing Beckett’s cyclical suffering.
Olivas mixes humor with pathos to give voice to undocumented performers and audiences who see their experiences reflected.
Productions and readings have elicited strong emotional responses, underscoring theater’s power to humanize marginalized people.
The play uses absurdity to critique policy and to provide catharsis and recognition for affected communities.
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Daniel Olivas
785 Literature in an Age of Anti-Immigration Sentiment (with Daniel Olivas) | My Last Book with Janet Todd
