Photo Flash: First Look at Bill Irwin in ACT's ENDGAME!

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 production shots from ENDGAME below!

Irwin says "ENDGAME's depth of emotion-the portrait of our longing for strong, clear feeling, and our fear of it at the same time-is fearsome. The Beckett view of parent-child relations makes the play so compelling to me, now, and so funny. I'm scared, but so excited to be coming to A.C.T. to work on ENDGAME with Carey and to put it before A.C.T. audiences."

A.C.T. is located at 415 Geary Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94102. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased by calling (415) 749-2228 or visiting www.act-sf.org.

Photo Credit: Kevin Berne