There are two words that when paired together get me excited about going to the theatre. The first word is “Bill.” The second word is “Irwin.” When you throw in “Beckett” as the third word, I’m salivating. On Wednesday night On Beckett, conceived and performed by Bill Irwin, will officially open at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. On Beckett will play through October 27th.
Los Angeles has seen many a great production of Beckett’s work (particularly when Alan Mandell is involved.) On Beckett is not a production of one of his shows, but rather a view into many of his works (both the well-known and lesser-known) through the prism of Irwin’s imagination.
What separates Beckett from other playwrights is his dark sense of humor. Beckett is best known for such plays as Waiting for Godot, Krapp’s Last Tape, Endgame and Happy Days. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1969.
In this show, Irwin will look at the Irish playwright and novelist’s work from the point-of-view of the role humor and clowning play in his work. That will serve as perfect fodder for Irwin who, in addition to being a Tony Award-winner for his performance in Broadway’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, is also a celebrated clown. Full Moon, a show he created with his partner in that show, David Shiner, showcased his amazingly versatile clowning skills. (They performed the show at the then-named James Doolittle Theatre in 1994. The theatre is now known as the Montalbán.)
Irwin first performed this show at The Strand Theatre in San Francisco while developing the work with ACT in 2017. It was subsequently performed at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York in 2018.
Irwin is joined on stage by Carl Barber and Benjamin Taylor who rotate playing “The Boy.”
On Beckett runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
For tickets to On Beckett go here.
Photo of Bill Irwin in On Beckett by Craig Schwartz/Courtesy of Center Theatre Group