Glad All Over

So good we can't even talk about it.

by David Anthony Fox

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: May 27, 2008

CONVERSATIONS WITH HIMSELF: Bill Irwin in The Happiness Lecture. (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

He had me at hello. By which I mean that from the very first moment, Bill Irwin's dazzling, joyful The Happiness Lecture grabbed me (and I'm known to be unrepentantly mime-averse and clown-o-phobic), and kept me spellbound for 80 minutes.

Here's the problem, though. As much as I'd love to tell you about it, virtually every detail is better left unrevealed. (I do mean every one. Don't even look at your program till the show is over. Let it all be a delightful surprise.) Yet it's my critical duty, in addition to lavishing praise, to offer some context/explanation of the show — while spoiling nothing, of course. It's a tall order, but here goes.

Irwin may be America's greatest living physical comic. At 58, though, inevitably he's facing a transition into a different mode of performance (and he's had considerable success as an actor in conventional plays, by the way, including winning a Barrymore for Trumbo, and a Tony for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?). Happiness offers musings on Irwin's past, present and future through a series of vignettes. Ranging from gymnastics to a virtuoso monologue, they showcase his remarkable versatility.

But Happiness is much more. Astonishingly, the show is nothing less than an examination of the art of theater. As seen through the eyes of Irwin's persona as a clown of the old school, it's a bit overwhelming. Corporate influences, competition from other media, changing audience tastes and entrepreneurs perpetually searching for something new — all of it comes under scrutiny in a piece that is wise, sardonic, occasionally poignant, but ultimately profoundly hopeful.

What else can I safely tell you? That Irwin is surrounded onstage by marvelous Philadelphia actors; that the design work is spectacular; that Happiness was developed under a grant from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative. And that it provides a dynamite finale to PTC's first season in their beautiful new Suzanne Roberts Theatre. Bravos to each and every one involved.

(d_fox@citypaper.net)

The Happiness Lecture Through June 15, Philadelphia Theatre Co., Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., 215-985-0420, philadelphiatheatrecompany.org

 

All reader comments are subject to our Terms of Use. By clicking Post Comment, you acknowledge that you have reviewed and agree to these Terms.

Name	please enter your name
Email (will not be published)	please enter a valid email
Comment	please enter a comment
Enter the security code on the right in the textbox below.
Security Code	please enter the code
	Join the City Paper Mailing List

Postage Service
Party on, Mike
Two's Company
A Show of Hands
Elevated