Beckett estate fails to stop women waiting for Godot

· Court overturns attempt to exclude female actors
· Judgment hailed as a victory for civil rights
Barbara McMahon in Rome
The Guardian

Although the Irish critic Vivian Mercier famously described it as a two-act play where "nothing happens ... twice", an Italian production of Waiting for Godot has been having a rather busier time off-stage.

Lawyers representing Samuel Beckett's estate, known for its iron grip on the playwright's works, objected to the use of female actors in the two main roles of Vladimir and Estragon, issuing an injunction against the theatre in Pontedera, Tuscany, to try to stop the performances.