Signature Stories Vol. 15 | Page 10

They’re taking the soulfulness of the human experience, the pain and darkness, and showing truth through comedy. – SHAINA TAUB were pieces, ends of certain sketches, approaches to characters within them that we completely re-examined for San Francisco. Knowing Bill and David, because they never stop working, we’ll do the same again [at Signature]. Your creative energy never dries up. If you have courage and you take a risk you’ll always find something. S: How does the audience affect the performance each night? TL: The whole show is one big riff with and off the audience. As clowns and as a musician, they’re always listening with their bodies, their whole beings, to what’s going on, and the show changes nightly in multiple ways based on those little moments or laughs, shifts in an audience. It’s very live. BIL L IR W IN laugh – something that they really shouldn’t be laughing about but they can’t help themselves.” It was really a lot of fun to finally make it work. Terrifying? Yes. But it was great having Bill and Tina in the room because they were really my benchmark in terms of, “Is this working? Is this not working? Is this going to fly? Is it not going to fly?” Pieces like that are really transformative because you realize your creative energy never dries up. If you have courage and you take a risk you’ll always find something. S: How has the show evolved since its original Signature run? (top to bottom) David Shiner in Signature Theatre’s production of Old Hats at American Conservatory Theater, 2014; Bill Irwin, Shaina Taub, and David Shiner in Signature Theatre’s production of Old Hats at American Conservatory Theater, 2014; Tina Landau, 2015. TL: I’ll state the obvious in saying that we have an entirely new character, which is Shaina. When we knew that Nellie [McKay] wasn’t going to be continuing with us [due to other commitments], we never tried to find someone to be like her. We wanted to find someone who was unique and singular so that we could reinvestigate the piece afresh and not try to recreate something. And that’s happened in little and big ways. At the same time, there ST: I think something that’s so special about [Bill and David’s] comedy is that it’s so inclusive and universal. I watch audiences of students and of all ages and from all different countries come to the show, and it speaks to something that transcends any kind of generational divide. TL: I know kids who came [to the show] aged five, six, seven. I know really cool, hip twenty-somethings who came. I know grandparents who came. DS: The great thing about clown work is that it appeals to all ages. It’s timeless. It’s completely timeless. n BI: Tina’s right, when we’re on our good game we are always listening. There’s stuff where you involve the audience and that’s scripted to happen but you always have to be listening because what people are throwing in is the texture. We feel it in the physical bits and you can feel it in the music too. a – DAVID SHINER BI: I think so. It’s a new being. S: Do different generations respond differently to the show? E R U T A N IG S t Bill Irwin wore many “hats” during his 2003-04 Signature Season, including playwright, performer, and, on two occasions, director. Whether delving into clowning history or forging ahead into The Regard Evening’s “New Theatre,” Irwin showcased his dexterous physicality, quick wit, and poignant introspection in three world premieres. Here, we look back at that memorable season: THE HARLEQUIN STUDIES Irwin – alongside a cast of acrobats, his iconic trunk, and an alluring hat rack – celebrated one of commedia dell’arte’s most beloved rascals in The Harlequin Studies, a sly exploration of the clowning tradition Irwin so inventively continues. THE REGARD EVENING The Regard Evening, a reinvestigation of the classic 1982 work The Regard of Flight, reunited Irwin with his longtime collaborators Doug Skinner and Michael O’Connor for a comedic, gymnastic look at continuity and change in the modern theatre. MR. FOX: A RUMINATION The season concluded with Mr. Fox: A Rumination, directed by Jim Houghton, in which Irwin brought to life the nineteenthcentury pantomime artist George Washington Lafayette Fox, whose stardom and rapid decline pose powerful questions of creativity, transformation, and artistic legacy. (top left) Paxton Whitehead and Bill Irwin in The Harlequin Studies at Signature Theatre, 2003; (left) Michael O’Connor and Bill Irwin in The Regard Evening at Signature Theatre, 2003; (background) Bill Irwin in Mr. Fox: A Rumination at Signature Theatre, 2004.