Tom McCamus (5/96, 9/98, 7/00 Waiting for Godot)
Excerpt from Medicine Hat News 5/18/96: Tom McCamus | Picture on Facebook
Ouimette thrives on variety
With Waiting For Godot, which runs July 7 to Sept. 13, Ouimette is finally taking on a play which has haunted him since his teens.
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Brian Bedford, his acting colleague from Amadeus, is directing Beckett’s play which stars Ouimette and Tom McCamus as the two tramps, Estragon and Vladimir, who wait eternally under a withered tree for the mysterious Godot to arrive.
© Medicine Hat News
Excerpt from Stage Door 7/96: Tom McCamus
A Stage Door Review
by Roger Kershaw and Jim Lingerfelt
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, July 7 to September 13, 1996
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The two stars are both wonderful as the philosopher tramps.
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Vladimir (Didi) is played by the stentorian Tom McCamus in a performance though technically outstanding, played like a Ouimette impersonation. The highlight of the production is the interplay between the two stars. Whether well-rehearsed or natural chemistry, the performances of these two stars was extraordinary.
© Stage Door
Excerpt from Michigan Daily 9/96: Tom McCamus
Waiting for Godot
The Stratford production of "Waiting for Godot" is, in a word, brilliant. The two actors playing Vladimir and Estragon (Tom McCamus and Stephen Ouimette, respectively) have such precise timing and delivery that the time flies by.
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With fine acting, a brilliant script and inventive direction, this "Waiting for Godot" surpasses all expectations.
© Michigan Daily
Excerpt from Playbill 12/10/96: Tom McCamus
Stratford Puts Shaw, Yeats, Cibber & Beckett On The Air
-- By David Lefkowitz 10 Dec 1996
The third season of CBC Radio's "Bank of Montreal Stratford Festival Series" will open Feb. 12 and 13, 1997, with The Dark Lady Of The Sonnets.
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Last up is Waiting For Godot, Samuel Beckett's avant-garde classic, directed by Brian Bedford. The original 1996 Stratford Festival cast will appear (March 12 & 13): Joe Dinicol, James Blendick, Tim MacDonald, Tom McCamus and Stephen Ouimette. For tickets ($10-$12 per reading; $30-$40 for the series) and information about the series, which is taped at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, call (416) 205-5555.
© Playbill
Excerpt from Playbill 11/20/97: Tom McCamus
Casting Anounced for Stratford's '98 Season
20 Nov 1997
The Stratford Festival has announced casting for next season, with heavy hitters in the two shows heading south to New York's City Center after the season closes (see story, Stratford Fest... in U.S. News).
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Tom McCamus and Stephen Ouimette get to reprise their inspired performances in Beckett's Waiting For Godot and then they both turn to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar as Marcus Brutus and Cassius, respectively.
© Playbill
Excerpt from Michigan Daily Online 9/8/98: Tom McCamus
'Godot's destiny is worth waiting for
By Christopher Tkaczyk Daily Arts Editor 09-08-98
The current production at the Stratford Festival is an encore presentation from the 1996 season, which drew rave reviews and immediate sell-outs. The cast is the same as the '96 production, and not a change has been made to alter their classic performances.
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The comedic timing between McCamus and Ouimette is superb. Beckett's script demands brevity and wit of its actors. The brilliant interpolation between McCamus and Ouimette makes this Stratford production a theatrical life lesson.
© Michigan Daily
Excerpt from Herald Scotland 12/22/98: Tom McCamus
Festival deals in an international market
Robert Tanitch Tuesday 22 December 1998
THE Stratford Festival in Stratford was founded in 1953 and is the largest repertory theatre festival in North America, producing an international repertoire of classics, modern classics, and musicals from May to October.
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There was a time when people used to scream abuse at the actors in Waiting For Godot and storm out of the theatre. At Stratford the actors played to practically continuous laughter. Brian Bedford's production was acted in front of a dilapidated music hall proscenium arch and Tom McCamus and Stephen Ouimette, a splendid double act, performed Beckett as a variety turn, embracing every showbiz genre.
© Herald Scotland
Samuel Beckett.net 7/22/00: Tom McCamus
Great Plays of the Millenium: WAITING FOR GODOT
JULY 22, 2000
WAITING FOR GODOT By Samuel Beckett
Starring Stephen Ouimette and Tom McCamus Directed by Brian Bedford
By the side of a deserted country road, two tramps await the arrival of the mysterious Godot. They argue, question , complain and exchange hats, never realising that their predicament mirrors that of all humanity, striving to make sense of a disordered, chaotic universe. This haunting, perplexing and sardonically amusing play is generally recognized as the quintessential play of the 20th century. Recorded live at the Glenn Gould Studio. Produced in association with The Stratford Festival through the Bank of Montreal Stratford Festival Series
© Samuel Beckett
Excerpt from What Travel Writers Say 2013: Tom McCamus
Stratford's "Waiting for Godot," another celebrated production!
Mike Keenan
Way back then, the two philosopher tramps were terrific, and at one point in the evening, something remarkable happened. A lady in the audience laughed so hard in such a long and hysterical fashion that both Stephen Ouimette (Estragon) and Tom McCamus (Vladimir) simultaneously cracked up on stage - momentarily, and then immediately returned to their roles which amused the audience even more.
© Mike Keenan
Excerpt from British Theatre Guide 5/7/14: Tom McCamus
Waiting For Godot
Review by Robert Tanitch
The funniest production I ever saw was by Brian Bedford at the Stratford Festival in Canada when Tom McCamus and Stephen Ouimette performed the whole play as an extended vaudeville act. The cross-talk, the role-play, the games, the abuse and the jokes were all acted out in spotlights to the accompaniment of drum rolls.
© British Theatre Guide