Enter all those wary of Samuel Beckett

SAMUEL Beckett is claimed to have named the absent titular hero of Waiting for Godot in honour of a cyclist named Roger Godeau.

Ian McKellen plays the character Estragon (Gogo to his only friend), who is one of two very patient tramps in Waiting for Godot

CRITIC Hugh Kenner claims that Samuel Beckett named the absent titular hero of Waiting for Godot in honour of a cyclist named Roger Godeau, who was active between 1943 and 1961. Godeau was a stayer rather than a champion; he is credited with nine victories in his whole cycling career. And it's said that Beckett himself waited for Godeau, as he trailed in last, outside a velodrome in Roubaix.

Apocryphal or not, the story's comic ordinariness has the ring of truth. Godeau may have finally arrived, but in Beckett's play Godot becomes the symbol of everything that is promised in life but that never turns up. As he has a white beard, he may even be God himself. Beckett's tramps Vladimir (Roger Rees) and Estragon (Ian McKellen) meet at a roadside to wait for Godot every evening, or nightfall, depending which comes first. Nightfall arrives as nightfall does, but Godot never does.

Vladimir and Estragon - their nicknames are Didi and Gogo - fill up the time with games. They abuse each other, debate whether to hang themselves and witness with interest the nightly arrival of Pozzo (Matthew Kelly) and Lucky (Brendan O'Hea), a master and slave whose co-dependency is illustrated by the length of rope attached to Lucky's neck.

Director Sean Mathias has set the action in a crumbling old theatre, where the famous tree pokes up through broken floorboards. It's a poignant image, reflecting the rich theatricality of Beckett's writing.

Sadly, of the original cast, which included Patrick Stewart and Simon Callow, we have only Ian McKellen. The good news is that this is a beautifully judged performance by an actor at the height of his powers. McKellen's Gogo is an innocent invested with a poignant vulnerability, addled by age and his continuing struggle to survive. The other performances frame rather than challenge McKellen's mastery (he can be a wicked puller of focus), which makes this show a star vehicle. The production as a whole errs, unnecessarily I think, by overplaying the comic: when the frenetic stage business dies down in the second act, it's much more effective.

Given Beckett's reputation for difficulty, it's good to see a production that demonstrates his simplicity. Waiting for Godot is by no means a difficult play, although, like all simple things, its meanings are endlessly resonant. It's a quality introduction to Beckett's work for anyone unfamiliar with or intimidated by his oeuvre.

Tickets: $129. Bookings: [phone]. Until May 22. His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, May 28-June 6; Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, June 9-12; Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, June 15-July 10.