Durang Durang - Jermyn Street Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
MIND the Gap Theatre is presenting Durang Durang, an evening of surreal comic works by the acclaimed contemporary playwright Christopher Durang, at Jermyn Street Theatre – from February 18 (previews from February 15) to March 6, 2010.
Despite receiving critical acclaim in America, Durang Durang is rarely performed in the UK. However, it comes to London following a successful run at the Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Festival 2009.
The trilogy opens with Mrs Sorken, in which the overly-articulate and dotty Mrs Sorken describes her likes and dislikes in the theatre, whilst introducing the work to come.
Next comes For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, an hilarious parody of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, followed lastly by Nina in the Morning, a curious, darkly funny depiction of an extremely wealthy, narcissistic woman whose children are trying to kill her whilst her fallen facelift is held in place by pins.
Alicia Dhyana House directs a cast that includes Janet Prince, Stuart Williams, Dan Frost and Melanie MacHugh.
Renowned for his uniquely surreal and dark style of humour, Durang’s plays have earned him a host of awards, including three Obie Awards, a Tony Award and a Dramatists Guild Hull Warriner Award.
As both a playwright and an actor, he has worked with some of America’s most famous names, among them Meryl Streep, Julie Andrews and Sigourney Weaver and he currently shares a seat as co-chair of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School in Manhattan with Marsha Norman.
Durang’s other works include The Idiots Karamazov, which was produced in 1974 and Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, which received critical acclaim following it’s recent performance at the Public Theatre in New York.
Durang Durang is designed by Ji-Youn Chang, with comic direction by Stephen Frost (Whose Line is it Anyway?, Have I got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks).
Tickets: £12, £10 concessions.
Times: 7.30pm; and 3.30pm on February 20 and 24 and March 3.
Durang Durang will be followed at 9pm by After Laugh live comedy nights.
For more information call the box office on 020 7287 2875 or visit www.durangdurang.com