When it comes to sad clowns, Weary Willie—Emmett Kelly’s iconic caricature of a down-and-out, Depression-era hobo—may be the first image that crops up in the contemporary imagination. But the O.G. of all sad clowns is undoubtedly Pagliacci. In Ruggero Leoncavallo’s beloved Pagliacci, a theater troupe stages a production that hits too close to home for its main characters when the leading man, Canio, learns of his wife Nedda’s real-life affair with her on-stage beau. While staging a play with a similar plot, Canio (in the titular role) struggles through a performance before slaying his unfaithful wife and her lover.
Pagliacci
Sat, 8pm, $55+
California Theatre, San Jose
