‘On Beckett’ Returns to Irish Rep, and Its Star, Bill Irwin, Is as Essential as Ever
Irwin has shined in diverse roles on television and on stage, but nowhere have his distinctive talents as both a physical comedian and a deft interpreter of dense text been better served than in Beckett’s plays.
One of last year’s most delightful theater productions was a one-man show called “All the Devils Are Here,” in which the veteran trouper Patrick Page demystified Shakespeare by combining excerpts from the Bard’s plays — with a focus on their villains, as the title suggests — with elegant, witty, and highly accessible insights into the material.
“Devils” put me in mind of a wonderful show I had seen several years earlier, “On Beckett,” in which Bill Irwin, another accomplished actor — also admired for his skills as a writer, director, and clown — had applied a similar approach to Samuel Beckett, another famously challenging scribe. Happily, Mr. Irwin’s roughly 90-minute gem has returned to Irish Repertory Theatre, and it’s just as invigorating, illuminating, and charming as it was the first time.
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