The Bible has had a tremendous impact on theatre, particularly during medieval times. There is also a great deal of the Bible in Shakespeare, but what relevance does Christianity have in today's post-Christian, secular drama?
Well, Samuel Beckett, in spite of his outspoken atheism, couldn't keep Christian scripture out of his writing (much like his mentor James Joyce). Take as an example Beckett's masterpiece Waiting for Godot. In its blistering attack on religious belief, the play goes back to Christian scripture over and over again.
Only a couple of minutes into the play, Vladimir says, "Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that?" Proverbs 13:12 states, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick." Interestingly, the passage continues, "But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." This is rather telling when we consider that one of the few set pieces in the play is a tree that appears to be dead in the first act.
Later in the first act, Vladimir discusses the Passion itself, as it is described in all four canonical gospels. As he points out, the gospels describe the "Saviour" (as Vladimir calls Christ) being crucified with criminals or "thieves" (though the Greek word used in scripture can also be translated as revolutionaries or rebels). Only one of the Evangelists (Luke) describes one of the thieves being saved.
"One out of four," Vladimir says. "Of the other three two don't mention any thieves at all and the third says that both of them abused him." Well, that's not quite right. Those crucified with Jesus abused him in both Matthew (27:44) and Mark (13:32) though not John. What are we to make of all this? As Estragon puts it in the play, "Well? They don't agree and that's all there is to it."
The Biblical references don't end there. At one point, Estragon gives his name as Adam. Later, he calls Pozzo both "Abel" and "Cain" before remarking, "He's all humanity." Waiting for Godot is about the human condition, but it describes that condition in explicitly Christian terms, even though it ultimately rejects a Christian worldview.
Perhaps a knowledge of Christian scripture, or at least the rudiments of Christian belief, is necessary in order to understand even secular, atheistic dramatists like Beckett.
