Today, lies and damned lies replace facts. Facts are emptied of their certainty by those who object to their inconvenience. Opinions and wild accusations are the currency. The president is the ultimate victim and simultaneously king. The state is theater and theater is the state.
In this milieu, the works of the Irish Writer Samuel Beckett gain new currency.
Beckett celebrated the absurdity of human existence. Whether writing increasingly complicated, recursive prose or by constructing a play out of repetitive, nonsensical comic actions. In “Malone Dies,” to cite one example, Beckett wrote:
“I could die today, if I wished, merely by making a little effort, if I could wish, if I could make an effort. But it is just as well to let myself die, quietly, without rushing things. Something must have changed. I will not weigh upon the balance any more, one way or the other.”
In a single quote, one glimpses the absurdity of Beckett’s viewpoint and the comic irony of his prose. Both are on full display in Bill Irwin’s “On Beckett” at The Shakespeare Theatre.
Irwin is most famously a Tony Award-winning actor and director. In 2009, he played Estragon in an acclaimed revival of “Waiting for Godot” alongside John Goodman and Nathan Lane. In addition, Irwin is a talented, baggy-pants clown who strides the boards in the footsteps of Buster Keaton, Harpo Marx, and Charlie Chaplin.
In his one-man production, Irwin explores his relationship with Beckett both as a clown and as an actor. Absurdly, he begins by reading several excerpts from Beckett’s “Stories and Texts for Nothing.” These pieces of prose are not for the faint of heart. Their language is dense and oft recursive. Listeners struggle with their lack of conventional meaning. The experience is much like watching a melting ice statue, whose form disappears under the audience’s gaze.
Recognizing the dramatic challenge, Irwin employs clowning as punctuation to both illustrate the texts’ absurdities and to maintain his audience’s focus on the beauty of the text despite the absence of “meaning.” He then pivots to a lengthy discussion of his relationship as an actor to “Waiting for Godot.” Employing his entire body as a comic canvas, he draws out the humor inherent in Beckett’s masterpiece.
For those who find Beckett obtuse or impenetrable, Irwin serves as a guide to understanding the author’s irony and humor. It is a singular performance not to be missed.
“On Beckett” is at The Shakespeare Theatre until March 15. Visit www.shakespearetheatre.com for tickets.
