Bill Irwin knows that we are blessed to live in a world that was graced by the great Irish poet, dramatist and novelist Samuel Beckett. His show "On Beckett," at ACT's Strand Theater through Jan. 22, is Irwin making his case.

Based on gay historical novelist Thomas Mallon's brilliant "Fellow Travelers" (2007), the opera of the same name centers on a gay romance during the "Lavender Scare" of the McCarthyite 1950s in Washington, DC.

Let's catch up with our cultural perambulations, shall we? The holiday season goes by in a blur, but Out There took the time to attend local theatre and performance.

Artists, art-lovers, artisans! Philanthropists, philanderers, philistines! Alphas & betas, tops & bottoms, butches & femmes, dominants & submissives! Join Out There in queer solidarity and popular resistance to the coming proto-fascist regime.

The Mostly British Film Festival will offer a free holiday triple feature on Wed., Dec. 14, 7 p.m. at the Vogue Theater in San Francisco.

This week Out There finds ourselves back in Washington, DC, and environs, where we grew up, came out, and spent our wild youth. We're glad we're here before the Reactionary Right-Wing Apocalypse transforms this town.

Still shell-shocked and depressed by last week's Right-Wing Apocalypse, Out There and our partner-in-crime Pepi headed to the Embarcadero Cinemas to catch a screening of director Barry Jenkins' beautiful, soulful film "Moonlight."

This past week was stuffed to the gills with arts & cultural opportunities for OT, and we've been toiling away to bring these few Arts & Culture pages to you in some sort of edited shape.

The corner of 18th and Castro streets - arguably the center of the gay universe - was known in the 1970s and 1980s as a sunny social spot for gay men who had escaped to San Francisco from other parts of the country.

Some symphonygoers get up on their high horse about film screenings at the concert hall accompanied by full orchestra, calling them "orchestra karaoke." But Out There always enjoys these events

Pieces from an innovative French porcelain manufactory that served under Louis XV's royal patronage are displayed in a new exhibition at the Legion of Honor. (But don't call it "Totes amazeballs!")

Last week the San Francisco Opera Archive unveiled its new, permanent photography exhibition "Looking Through the Lens: The Glory of San Francisco Opera, Past and Present."

It's beginning to feel a lot like the fall arts season.

What happened at the Tenderloin cafeteria on an unknown date in August 1966 makes more sense when we look at events that led up to it.