Datebook

SanFranciscoChronicle and SFChronicle.com|Wednesday,January 11, 2017|Section E

Bill Irwin doesn’t wa nt to appear “too antic.”

Irwin, one of the nation’s most respectedclowns,

reveals hisworry as he arrives for a photoshoot

for “On Beckett,” his soloshow that mixes ex-

cerpts from Samuel Beckett’s plays and prose with

his own commentary and anecdotes.

He’s rig ht to be concerned.

Irwin, 66, has Bay Area

clowning roots that date to

the 1970s, when he per-

formed with the influential

PickleFamily Circus.

Though he’s been based in

New York for years now —

winning a 2005Tony Award

for his performance in

“Who’s Afraid ofVirginia

Woolf?” —Irwin returns frequently to performat

ACT, most recently with ashorterrun of “On

Beckett” in 2015,“Old Hats” in 2014 and “End-

game” in 2012.

To represent“On Beckett,” which runs through

Jan. 22at ACT’s StrandTheater, he says he wants

to makesure the focus is on theNobel Prize-win-

ningIrish playwright’s language.

Paul Chinn /The Chronicle

Bill Irwin, shown at the ACT rehearsalstudio, has been a notedclown sincethe PickleFamily Circus days.

Renowned clown is

serious about Beckett

Kevin Berne 2012

Irwin asHamm (left) andNick Gabriel as Clov in

ACT’s 2012 production ofBeckett ’s “Endgame.”

Bill Irwin’s solo show built aroundIrish playwright’s words

By Lily Janiak

Irwincontinues on E6

On Beckett:By Bill Irwin.

Through Jan. 22. $30-$70.

ACT’sStrandTheater, 1127

MarketSt., S.F.(415) 74 9-

2228. http://www.act-sf.org
      vTosee a video of Charlie
      Rose interviewing Bill Irwin
      about Beckett’s “Texts for
      Nothing”: http://www.youtube.com
      /watch?v=7BfErYAJ8a8

AmyHerzog’s “Belleville” is

the kind of play that cango

from astartlingly, painfully

honest portrait of a contempo-

rary affluent young couple to a

bloodbath(and puke-bath) in a

matter of seconds.

She captures withkeen eye

the way spouses, precisely

because they’re spouses, can

savage one another and then

apologize sincerely, cast asper-

sions thenlust violently for one

another, all in the same instant.

She gi ves such full breath to the

banalities of married life of

Abby (Alisha Ehrlich) and Zack

(JustinGillman), American

expats toParis’ Belleville neigh-

borhood, that in momentsit’s

Lurid

scenes

from a

marriage

CarlosAvila Gonzalez/ The Chronicle

Alisha Ehrlich andJustin

Gillman in “Belleville.”

By Lily Janiak

“Belleville” continues on E2

M

Belleville:By Amy Her-

zog. DirectedbyM. Gra-

hamSmith.Through Jan.

28. 90 minutes. $20-$42.Cus-
    tom MadeTheatre, 533 Sutter
    St., S.F.(415) 79 8-2682. http://www.
    custommade.org

TimLee’searlieststand-up

wasn’t attemptedat acomedy

cluboropenmikenight,butin

thehallsofacademia,wherethe

comedianrememberssneaking

aslideofactorTony Randall

intoaPowerPoint presentation

aboutmigratingfish.

“Salmonaresemelparous,

whichmeanstheybreedonce

andtheydie,”Leerecalls.“At

thispoint,Tony Randallhad

justhadkidsinhis80s.SoI

explainedby saying,‘LikeTony

Randall;he’s breedingandnow

hewilldie.’Somepeople

thought it wasfunnyandothers

werelik e, ‘No...’ ”

Themixedreviews didn’t

deterLee. Thecomedianno

Scientist

evolved

to career

as comic

Leecontinues on E2

By Peter Hartla ub

The irresistibly annoying

theme songwarns you to find

something else towatch —

anything but the tale of endless

miseries befalling a trio of

orphanedchil-

drenawaiting

you if you stick

around beyond

the credits.

Ignore the

warningat your

own peril — and

by peril I mean

the certainty

that “A Series ofUnfortunate

Events” willsweep you up in

its droll, comedic pseudo-

melodrama.

The eig ht-episode series,

available onNetflix onFriday,

Jan. 13 (of course), is based on

the books of the same titleby

Lemony Snicket, previously

thought to be a Bay Areaau-

thor named

DanielHandler

but now revealed

to beactor Pat-

rick Warburton,

who narrates the

unfortunate

events that occur

in theyoung

lives of Klaus

(LouisHynes),Violet (Malina

Weissman) and the most eru-

dite infant this side ofStew ie

Griffin, Sunny Baudelaire

JoeLederer / Netflix

CountOlaf (NeilPatrick Harris) schemesto get the inheritance ofthe Baudelaire orphans

(including Malina Weissman andLouis Hynes) in“A Series ofUnfortunate Events.”

DAVID WIEGANDTelevision

‘Events’ a series you

can’t look away from

N

ASeries of Un-

fortunateEvents:

from the booksby

LemonySnicket, season

oneavailablefor streaming

on Friday,Jan. 13, on Net-

flix.

Wiegan dcontinues on E3