structural:scholar_edition, quality:corruption
UK

Like all of Beckett's translations, the English translation of Waiting for Godot is not simply a literal translation of En attendant Godot. "Small but significant differences separate the French and English text. Some, like Vladimir's inability to remember the farmer's name (Bonnelly), show how the translation became more indefinite, attrition and loss of memory more pronounced." A number of biographical details were removed, all adding to a general "vaguening" of the text which he continued to trim for the rest of his life.

The English-language premiere was on 3 August 1955 at the Arts Theatre, London, directed by the 24-year-old Peter Hall. During an early rehearsal Hall told the cast "I haven't really the foggiest idea what some of it means... But if we stop and discuss every line we'll never open." Again, the printed version preceded it (New York: Grove Press, 1954) but Faber's "mutilated" edition did not materialise until 1956. A "corrected" edition was subsequently produced in 1965. "The most accurate text is in Theatrical Notebooks I, (Ed.) Dougald McMillan and James Knowlson (Faber and Grove, 1993). It is based on Beckett's revisions for his Schiller-Theater production (1975) and the London San Quentin Drama Workshop, based on the Schiller production but revised further at the Riverside Studios (March 1984)."

In the 1950s, theatre was strictly censored in the UK, to Beckett's amazement since he thought it a bastion of free speech. The Lord Chamberlain insisted that the word " erection " be removed, " 'Fartov' became 'Popov' and Mrs Gozzo had ' warts ' instead of ' clap ' ". Indeed, there were attempts to ban the play completely. Lady Dorothy Howitt wrote to the Lord Chamberlain, saying: "One of the many themes running through the play is the desire of two old tramps continually to relieve themselves. Such a dramatisation of lavatory necessities is offensive and against all sense of British decency." "The first unexpurgated version of Godot in England... opened at the Royal Court on 30 December 1964."

The London run was not without incident. The actor Peter Bull, who played Pozzo, recalls the reaction of that first night audience:

Waves of hostility came whirling over the footlights, and the mass exodus, which was to form such a feature of the run of the piece, started quite soon after the curtain had risen. The audible groans were also fairly disconcerting... The curtain fell to mild applause, we took a scant three calls (Peter Woodthorpe reports only one curtain call) and a depression and a sense of anti-climax descended on us all.

The critics were less than kind but "verything changed on Sunday 7 August 1955 with Kenneth Tynan 's and Harold Hobson 's reviews in The Observer and The Sunday Times. Beckett was always grateful to the two reviewers for their support... which more or less transformed the play overnight into the rage of London." "At the end of the year, the Evening Standard Drama Awards were held for the first time... Feelings ran high and the opposition, led by Sir Malcolm Sargent, threatened to resign if Godot won. An English compromise was worked out by changing the title of the award. Godot became The Most Controversial Play of the Year. It is a prize that has never been given since."

On 27 April 1960, the BBC Third Programme broadcast the very first radio adaptation, directed by Donald McWhinnie, with Patrick Magee as Vladimir, Wilfrid Brambell as Estragon, Felix Felton as Pozzo, Donal Donnelly as Lucky and Jeremy Ward as The Boy.

On 26 June 1961, Donald McWhinnie directed a production broadcast on BBC Television, with Jack MacGowran as Vladimir, Peter Woodthorpe as Estragon, Felix Felton as Pozzo, Timothy Bateson as Lucky and Mark Mileham as The Boy.

On 5 February 1962, the BBC Home Service broadcast a radio production as part of the From the Fifties series, directed by Robin Midgley with Nigel Stock as Vladimir, Kenneth Griffith as Estragon, Philip Leaver as Pozzo, Andrew Sachs as Lucky and Terry Raven as The Boy.

In December 1964, Nicol Williamson played Vladimir, Alfred Lynch played Estragon and Jack MacGowran played Lucky in a production at London's Royal Court Theatre directed by Anthony Page. This was the first West End revival since the play's British première.