Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2013 - 11

subtext
by beeb salzer
genius

Bill Irwin is a genius. Certified. The MacArthur Foundation
gave him a five-year grant, often called a genius grant, the first
performer to get one. In New York recently his show Old Hats,
with David Shiner and Nellie McKay, got spectacular reviews
and what was to be a limited run keeps being extended. If
anyone doesn't know Irwin's work, YouTube has several clips
of his acts.
One segment of his show, my favorite part, uses technology that would have been impossible several years ago. There
is a full-stage backdrop with projections on it. In the past, if
large projections were used, action had to be kept away from
the drop or the area lights would wash out the projections.
That's not the case these days.
The new technology doesn't stop there. Irwin acts with
himself-with a pre-recorded moving picture on an iPad.
This requires precise timing as each Irwin reacts to the other.
That technology would be original enough, but at one point
his projected face takes up the whole stage so that through
a slit in the drop, the open-mouth image can swallow up the
human-size actor.
Then, in a shadow sequence behind the drop, Irwin
chases a small projected Irwin across the stage, emerging
with a doll dressed like the actor-supposedly the shadow
we saw. These are only a few of the surprises that he is able to
pull off with the new technology.
What amazes me about Irwin is that beyond his rubberlimbed clowning he is also a wonderful actor. He played
Lucky in Waiting for Godot and has had roles in twenty movies. He was in Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia. And he
won a Tony for his portrayal of George in Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf.
Albee is another kind of genius. With three Pulitzer Prizes,
Tonys, and as a Kennedy Center honoree, he has over a long
life never stopped creating plays that were surprising for their
differences one from another. His plays are completely serious,
laced with humor that turns on a dime from funny to shocking.
My wife and I have been friends with Albee for many
years. He is an artistic advisor to a non-profit my wife founded, and he has often been a participant in programs I produced at the university. Sometimes a great artist is nothing
like what he has created, but Albee's genius is evident on
stage and off. I had lunch with him recently. Although age has
taken its toll physically, as it does with us all, his mind is just
as sharp as it has always been. Knowing that I would see him,

I felt I should see the latest Broadway production of Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
I had seen so many productions of his play that I was
a bit reluctant to see another. But the new production that
came from the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago was faithful
to the original and beautifully acted. Tracy Letts, who is both
an actor and playwright, led a wonderful cast. Amy Morton
was Martha, Carrie Coon was the best Honey I had ever seen,
and Madison Dirks was Nick. They were supported by Todd
Rosenthal's sets, Nan Cibula's costumes, and lighting by Allen
Lee Hughes. All did masterful work.

Are there theatre designers or technicians
who are geniuses? Probably so. We all
would have our own list.
This production made me remember how great this play
is. I was shattered by the original production. Since then,
some I had seen were second rate and some were outright
travesties. One student production cut over an hour out of
the original script. When Albee heard of this I thought he
might take a contract out on the life of the director. Another
production set the play in a room with high ceilings resembling an Italian palazzo-marbled walls and all. For the life of
me, I couldn't understand how anyone could go so wrong. A
production in the round avoided this mistake because it was
only furniture. But the actor playing Martha was so shrill and
skinny that any thought of her being seductive was a reach.
Irwin and Albee are different in one major way. I doubt
that anyone can re-create Irwin's clowning. It is too dependent on his own physical abilities. On the other hand, Albee's
work is vulnerable to many variations, often prey to directors
or designers who want to be original.
Are there theatre designers or technicians who are geniuses? Probably so. We all would have our own list. So let me
quote a dictionary definition that may aid in choosing: "Inborn
exalted intellectual power, an individual with instinctive and extraordinary imaginative, creative, or inventive capacity."
Many of us do work we are proud of, but often that work
is a small percentage of what we do over a lifetime. It seems
to me that geniuses, such as Irwin and Albee, constantly do
things that create awe and wonder. We marvel at each new
effort. They do things that no other human can do. v
s p r i n g 2013

theatre design

& technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2013