Essentially these two urban black “boys” are on this median waiting – waiting for anything to help them Pass Over – Pass Over to a promised land that they really can’t even define.  To all of the games and ways of waiting in comes the visitor.  In Godot this visitor can in the form of Pozzo and Lucky. – – Pozzo being the Master and Lucky being the slave.  Here in Pass Over the passerby was the whitest white boy one could imagine – white in his look and mannerisms and white even in the way the talked.  The three sit down a share a meal as they work to understand each other.  Perhaps the most electric exchange centered around the F word.  The white boy, ironically named Master, couldn’t understand why the two boys used the n word every two minutes in talking to each other but were so taken back when white boy even thought of using it.  Race issues were handled in such a cutting and humorous way – – perfect for getting an audience to think AND feel – without taking sides.

Eventually the police – the greatest fear in the play – arrives and the play takes a dark and bloody turn.  In what I found to be the most explosive moment of the show, the police officer magically beats HIMSELF into a bloody pulp and begins to call the two black boys – MEN – not boys – but Men.  And only then was he freed to resume his world.

Unlike waiting for Godot which ends much as it began with a literal Waiting for Godot, Pass Over gives these two men a chance to Pass Over – – a chance to live in a world beyond the cement median they have known for all of their life. 

I saw this play on it’s final Broadway performance – so the most I can do is to encourage you to find a reputable company in your area producing the play so you too can be part of this joyous masterclass on race and hope.