Bill Irwin and John Douglas Thompson to Star in Samuel Beckett's Endgame Off-Broadway

Irish Repertory Theatre has announced that it will mount an off-Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett's Endgame, starring Bill Irwin and John Douglas Thompson. The production will begin preview performances on January 25, 2023, ahead of an official opening night on February 2. It is slated to run through March 12.

A gifted clown and comedian, Irwin most recently appeared on the stage of Irish Rep in On Beckett. One of the great classical actors working in New York, Thompson has appeared at the Irish Rep in The Emperor Jones and recently portrayed Shylock in the TFANA production of The Merchant of Venice.

Endgame is about Hamm (Thompson), who is reduced to living in one room, in which he sits, blind and chair bound. His shuffling servant, Clov (Irwin), is at his beck and call. The only thing left for Hamm is to wait for the inevitable end.

Joe Grifasi and Patrice Johnson join Thompson and Irwin as Hamm's aging, legless parents, who live in garbage cans.

Ciarán O'Reilly directs, with set design by Charlie Corcoran, costume design by Orla Long, lighting design by Michael Gottlieb, sound design by M. Florian Staab, and properties by Deirdre Brennan. Jeff Davolt serves as production stage manager with Giselle Raphaela as assistant stage manager.

Additionally, Irish Rep will present Ronán Noone The Smuggler downstairs in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Stage January 18-February 26. The official opening is January 26.

Written entirely in rhyming verse, The Smuggler is described this way: "It's 2023. Tim Finnegan is an Irish immigrant trying to make it as a writer on Amity, an affluent summer colony in Massachusetts, where tensions flare between the migrant and local communities after a fatal car crash. When he loses his job as a bartender, Tim gets drawn into the dark underbelly of the island. The Smuggler examines how far one man will go to restore his self-respect and asks the question, What does it mean to be an American citizen?"

Michael Mellamphy stars in the production, which will be directed by Conor Bagley. The Smuggler will feature scenic design by Ann Beyersdorfer, lighting design by Michael O'Connor, and sound design by Liam Bellman-Sharpe. Michael Palmer is the production stage manager.