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| Bill Irwin in On Beckett |
At the very heart of Bill Irwin's 90-minute-long show On Beckett is the idea of acting and interpretation. As he will gladly tell you, Samuel Beckett is "difficult writings by a difficult writer" and it's easy to see early on what he means. There's nothing straightforward about even the playwright and novelist's best work. It's full of twists and turns, leaving the actor to determine what is an internal and external monologue, and even where and how to punctuate a sentence. Irwin doesn't admit to being a scholar and nor does he give a dense history lesson on his entire work. All that he wishes to share is the reason why Beckett has been stuck passionately in his mind for decades. By the end of the show, with nothing more than comical costume changes involving bowler hats, he makes a very persuasive case for why Beckett continues to resonate through very specific works that come to life through entertaining monologues and physical comedy that bring the words to life in ways that even beginner Beckett fans can appreciate.
Irwin is a clown. He has been for decades now going back to the Pickle Family Circus. Vaudeville is in his nature, and it shines through in the way that he coaxes the audience into the evening's festivities. Beckett is seen as a serious playwright whose work expresses existentialism and the dourness of life. How could these two worlds possibly intersect, especially given that Irwin has been in many productions of "Waiting for Godot" over the years? It's his goal as he tackles a lesser-known Beckett work called "Texts for Nothing," which are lyrically challenging by nature. In fact, Irwin's first of many monologues is so complicated that he spends the following 10 minutes or so deconstructing why the passage speaks to him, or as he puts it: gets lodged in his mind. Even if he sometimes feels like throwing the book across the room, he still returns to it.
He understands that Beckett is difficult, but he's still drawn to the lyrical gymnastics that he puts on a page. It's in how the playwright uses punctuation, managing to make a monologue turn from run-on sentences to potential dialogues and uses of pronouns that require deeper thought. Is the speaker speaking to himself? Is he sane, or less mentally stable? Better yet, is this entire passage to be read as comic or tragic? With one passage that at times sounds rambling, Irwin deconstructs the power of Beckett by showing a dexterity in language that is persuasive and even powerful. The fact that he even understands how to make it humorous shows how studying the written word can be a fun exercise in interpretation.
The night is not just about deconstructing passages. At different points Irwin does wardrobe changes, believing that costume is important to the story. He even discusses Beckett's love of the bowler hat and how they impact shows like "Waiting for Godot." To change the bowler hat to a baseball cap is to take away the seriousness, or even the meaning entirely. Beckett is a figure who Irwin describes as writing not of body or mind, but of the silhouette. This is an outline of a figure, and there's no true way to fully understand the playwright's intentions. Even when Irwin puts on baggy clown pants, he manages to add layers to Beckett, proving that sometimes there's even sadness in comedy.
Even if the night is about the power of Beckett, the star of the show is Irwin for how he discusses the author. As a clown, he is a natural entertainer and can't go a minute without adding humor and wit to his monologues. The way that he postures, annunciates words and even places himself on stage adds something deeper to Beckett. Suddenly the words that were initially seen as nonsensical felt poignant, even emotional. They were allowed to be comedic, as in an impressive lengthy passage where Irwin discusses "Waiting for Godot" by highlighting how vague stage directions can lead to a moment being funny or sad. It's all in how Irwin presents the moment, and suddenly the depth of the acting makes sense. It's a relationship between word and form that comes to life in ways that are unique to each individual.
Beckett is a writer who welcomes interpretation. Even when the words sound depressing and full of heartache, there is a way to spin it and make them sound joyful and human. Irwin won't make you understand Beckett, but he will make you understand how writing can impact your life. By presenting personal anecdotes in between his monologues, he allows the personal to become universal. He shows that there's more to the written word than dry readings. It's a place where the best writers can inject life, allowing the world to have a relationship with what they have to say. As the show comes to an end, Irwin asks why Beckett continues to resonate. It's in part because people as entertaining as Irwin keep the word alive, but also because they can't help but relate to the audience while leaving a lot up for them to figure out on their own. By the end, the big takeaway is that we need to embrace a side of interpretation that is bolder, more exciting. It's one of the only ways to appreciate what it means to be human and alive.
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