| re: RIP Christopher Durang | |
| Last Edit: JereNYC 01:28 pm EDT 04/03/24 | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 01:26 pm EDT 04/03/24 | |
| In reply to: RIP Christopher Durang - writerkev 09:14 am EDT 04/03/24 | |
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| Almost 10 years ago, I was in a production of BEYOND THERAPY and that play is so "of the moment" 1981 Manhattan that we were concerned that audiences wouldn't get it at all. This play is chock full of then-topical references and seeing it at the time must have been like something akin to watching an SNL sketch satirizing contemporary social mores. It was a contemporary play dealing with issues that people were talking about. It was very "NOW!" and those kinds of plays, like old SNL sketches, don't always age well or have enough meaning to future audiences to make them worthwhile. If I remember correctly, the director considered adding a glossary to the program with a list of some of the terms and references that Durang used in the play. But, thanks to Durang's brilliant writing, it wasn't an issue at all. People got the jokes, even if they didn't 100% get the references. The characters are so well-drawn as to be immediately recognizable to modern audiences. And, sad to say, a lot of the issues that the play addresses haven't changed all that much, despite the window-dressing of the fabulous early 1980's Manhattan of Plato's Retreat and personal ads. And watching these characters navigate a new world of sex and sexuality in 1981, from a contemporary lens of knowing that the AIDS epidemic is right around the corner and that it would likely change everything for these characters, just adds a whole new layer that Durang could never have intended. It turned out to be an amazing experience and audiences loved us. They roared at the lines and the jokes and the situations like the play was written yesterday. It all worked so well and that's entirely down to the genius of Christopher Durang. |
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