Last night we went to Philly to see Bill Irwin's The Happiness Lecture at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. Amazing. It was so good. One of those shows that makes you excited about theater. Sarah got us amazing tickets (especially since they were free :-D ). Irwin wrote, directed, & performed the show, with the help of a small troupe of local Philly dance & clown artists. Most of the show was meant to explore dream and fantasy along with Irwin's own journey through theater, and it managed it in a comedic yet totally serious way. I didn't stop laughing at all through the show, and I left with so much to think about. I LOVE shows like that!!The show started with an introduction from an "associate dramaturge" who was really a member of the clown troupe. She was hilarious. She kept coming out throughout the show giving little "speeches" and informing the audience about different aspects of the performance. There was a running gag with fake late audience members which was initially a little annoying, but once it really got going it was pretty funny. The marionettes were fantastic, acting out different aspects of Irwin's persona while still being funny and relevant and completely random.
The end of the show was Irwin finally giving the "Happiness Lecture." After numerous attempts at giving it dressed as an academic, standing behind a podium, he gave up and came out in his classic red-striped pajamas, sat on a beat up old trunk, and told "a story about two prehistoric men - Ig and Og." The story of Ig and Og originally came from "The Happiness Hypothesis" which describes how we are all the "Children of Og" (Og being the worrier, and thus more likely to pass on his genes when compared to the reckless Ig). It was a great speech from Irwin, that included a lot of really fantastic thoughts and ideas ("Every human being is a committee continuously in session"). He ended with a bit on ceremony, which led directly into the Spaghetti Scene - another clowning scene which he has performed numerous times before, but continues to be fantastic as it grows and changes with each performance.
So, all in all, amazing show that I wish were running longer so we could go see it again.
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