Samuel Beckett News

The Arches' project Conflux presents the return of SURGE, Scotland's 3rd annual festival of street arts, physical theatre and circus, bringing to Glasgow a raft of new work from Scottish and international companies and artists. Highlights include an exclusive set of shows from transformational French performer and sculptor Olivier De Sagazan, open air intervention from Australia's notorious tactical street art group pvi collective and aquatic themed street theatre fun for all from Fish Out of Water.

APPLE CORE THEATER COMPANY (ACTC) is pleased to present the world premiere production of Israeli-American playwright, Ken Kaissar's new satire - A MODEST SUGGESTION. Directed by Walter J. Hoffman, A MODEST SUGGESTION is in the midst of a limited engagement at the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th/10th). Performances continue through Sunday, May 27.

Both terribly morbid and wonderfully brilliant, Samuel Beckett's "Endgame" and "Play" are difficult at first to understand. Beckett's focus on existential themes of death and the meaning - or meaninglessness - of life make any interpretation of his work difficult to enjoy on its own.

The Roscommon Arts Centre presents LOVE-HUNGRY FARMER in its May lineup. For tickets and more information, visit: www.roscommonartscentre.ie.

'The Wizard of Oz' by L. Frank Baum, book by John Kane, music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, directed by Jonah Hagans, will be presented on Tokyo International Players' mainstage tonight, May 17 through May 20.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2011-12 season with ENDGAME and PLAY-two landmark one-act plays by modernist master Samuel Beckett, directed by A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff. ENDGAME-led by two-time Tony Award winner and A.C.T. associate artist Bill Irwin-charts a day in the life of the wheelchair-bound Hamm and his servant, Clov , who exist in a mutually dependent and fractious relationship with only Hamm's ashbin-bound parents, Nagg and Nell, for company. This avant-garde play mixes comedy with tragedy to explore the human dilemma, mortality and God's existence. Check out highlights from the production below!

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2011-12 season with ENDGAME and PLAY-two landmark one-act plays by modernist master Samuel Beckett, directed by A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff. One of Beckett's most rarely performed works, PLAY, is the abstract tale of two women and one man encased in identical funeral urns as they obsess over an affair that ended unhappily for all. This production of Beckett plays performs a limited run May 9-June 3, 2012. Check out production shots below!

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2011-12 season with ENDGAME and PLAY-two landmark one-act plays by modernist master Samuel Beckett, directed by A.C.T. artistic director Carey Perloff.

Eccentronic present their first 'mainstream musical' - featuring eccentric, electronic, enthralling songs about time-wasting, socks and visiting the Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

The Roscommon Arts Centre presents Pat Shortt, and LOVE-HUNGRY FARMER in their May lineup. For tickets and more information, visit: www.roscommonartscentre.ie.

Boston Baroque, America's first period-instrument orchestra, has announced its 2012-2013 concert season, running from October 19, 2012 to April 20, 2013. Music Director Martin Pearlman will conduct five programs of two performances each, taking place at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston or at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University in Cambridge. Highlights of the season will include a rarely-performed Handel comic opera, Partenope; Haydn's "Lord Nelson" Mass, which is slated to be recorded for later release on CD; Handel's Messiah at the holidays; and concerts that feature members of the orchestra and chorus in small ensemble and solo roles.

Roscommon Arts Centre has announced its upcoming shows, including Pat Shortt, John B. Keane's Love-Hungry Farmer and The Three Tenors. See details below.

With Big Story Small, Pony World Theatre distills a collection of classic plays into potent, short works. In the company's second installment of Big Story Small, eight "new" plays have been adapted by local writers and will perform three nights only, tonight May 10 and May 11, and 12 at 8pm at Theatre Off Jackson. The collection is staged with the assistance of puppets, shadows, a tiny orchard, animation, and more. Big Story Small is produced in association with Theatre Off Jackson.

The Roscommon Arts Centre presents LOVE ALL, Pat Shortt, and LOVE-HUNGRY FARMER in their May lineup. For tickets and more information, visit: www.roscommonartscentre.ie.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff previously announced that an evening of short plays by modernist master Samuel Beckett replaces Twelfth Night for the 2011-12 season. The evening includes ENDGAME, Beckett's timeless rumination on the end of life, featuring two-time Tony Award winner and A.C.T. favorite Bill Irwin, who was recently hailed by The New York Times as 'an actor deeply steeped in the traditions of clowns, according to both the commedia dell'arte and Samuel Beckett,' and PLAY featuring A.C.T. core acting company members René Augesen, Anthony Fusco, and Omozé Idehenre. A longtime Bay Area favorite as one of the founders of the Pickle Family Circus, Irwin returns to A.C.T. after stealing the hearts of the Bay Area audiences last season as the loveable title character in Moliére's SCAPIN, which he also adapted and directed. Perloff, who has previously directed Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT at A.C.T. and will helm the production, said: 'It was in Endgame that Beckett famously wrote: 'nothing is funnier than unhappiness.' And I cannot think of a more consummate artist than Bill Irwin to demonstrate that fact, undertaking the lead role of Hamm in this astonishing play. Endgame is a play Bill and I have wanted to do together for many years; when the opportunity suddenly presented itself to do it this season, we could not say no. I am thrilled to present Endgame in tandem with a comic gem from 1963 called PLAY, which will give our core company a chance to shine a spotlight on a hilarious tale of marriage and adultery that represents a very different side of Beckett's oeuvre. I hope that this Beckett pairing will add a rich chapter to A.C.T.'s explorations of the great modernists, Beckett and Pinter.' Endgame and Play play May 9-June 3, 2012, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 8 p.m. Tickets (starting at $10) are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228 or at www.act-sf.org.