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.