Christopher Durang
Encyclopedia
Christopher Ferdinand Durang (born January 2, 1949) is an American
playwright
known for works of outrageous and often absurd
comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.
, the son of Patricia Elizabeth, a secretary, and architect Francis Ferdinand Durang, Jr. He grew up in Berkeley Heights
. He attended Catholic school
s as a child, including the Our Lady of Peace School in New Providence, New Jersey
and the Delbarton School
in Morristown, New Jersey
. He received a B.A.
in English
from Harvard and an M.F.A.
in playwriting from Yale School of Drama
. He lives in Bucks County with his partner, John Augustine; they have been together for more than 20 years.
, Roman Catholic dogma
and culture, and homosexuality
.
His plays have been performed nationwide, including on Broadway
and Off-Broadway
. His works include Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You
, Beyond Therapy
, Baby With the Bathwater
, The Nature and Purpose of the Universe
, Titanic
, A History of the American Film, The Idiots Karamazov, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Laughing Wild
, 'Dentity Crisis, The Actor's Nightmare
, The Vietnamization of New Jersey
, Betty's Summer Vacation
, Adrift in Macao, Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge
, Miss Witherspoon, Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, and a collection of one-act parodies meant to be performed in one evening entitled Durang/Durang that includes "Mrs. Sorken", "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls" (a parody of The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
), "A Stye Of the Eye", "Nina in the Morning", "Wanda's Visit", and "Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room".
Durang has performed as an actor for both stage and screen. He first came to prominence in his Off-Broadway
satirical review Das Lusitania Songspiel, which he performed with friend and fellow Yale alum Sigourney Weaver
. Later he co-starred in one of his own plays as Matt in The Marriage of Bette and Boo.
1987 film adaptation
of Beyond Therapy
, calling it "horrific" and accusing Altman of totally rewriting the script "so that all psychology is thrown out the window, and the characters dash around acting crazy but with literally no behavioral logic underneath."
Durang has appeared as an actor in the 1987 comedy The Secret of My Succe$s
, 1988's Mr. North
, 1989's Penn & Teller Get Killed
, and 1992's HouseSitter
.
He has also written a number of unproduced screenplay
s, including The Nun Who Shot Liberty Valance, The House of Husbands (which he co-authored with Wendy Wasserstein
), and The Adventures of Lola.
series Trying Times, and Durang played the part of The Waiter in that production.
for A History of the American Film.
Durang has been awarded numerous fellowships and high profile grants including a Guggenheim
, a Rockefeller, the CBS Playwriting Fellowship, the Lecomte du Nouy Foundation grant, and the Kenyon Festival Theatre Playwriting Prize.
He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council, and is co-chair of the playwriting program at Juilliard. He was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
in Drama in 2006 for Miss Witherspoon.
On May 17, 2010 he was presented with the very first Luminary Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards
for his work Off-Off-Broadway.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
known for works of outrageous and often absurd
Theatre of the Absurd
The Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction, written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work...
comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.
Life
Durang was born in Montclair, New JerseyMontclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
, the son of Patricia Elizabeth, a secretary, and architect Francis Ferdinand Durang, Jr. He grew up in Berkeley Heights
Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 13,183....
. He attended Catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
s as a child, including the Our Lady of Peace School in New Providence, New Jersey
New Providence, New Jersey
New Providence is a borough on the northwestern edge of Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on the Passaic River, which forms the county boundary with Morris County...
and the Delbarton School
Delbarton School
Delbarton School is a private all-male Roman Catholic college preparatory school in Morristown, New Jersey, educating young men from 7th to 12th grade. Delbarton is a Catholic independent school directed by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary's Abbey....
in Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
. He received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
from Harvard and an M.F.A.
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in playwriting from Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. He lives in Bucks County with his partner, John Augustine; they have been together for more than 20 years.
Work
His work often deals critically with issues of child abuseChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, Roman Catholic dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
and culture, and homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
.
His plays have been performed nationwide, including on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
. His works include Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You is a play by Christopher Durang first performed on December 14, 1979, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City. It was performed on a bill with one-act plays that included works by David Mamet, Marsha Norman, and Tennessee Williams...
, Beyond Therapy
Beyond Therapy
Beyond Therapy is a play by Christopher Durang.The farcical comedy focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattanites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their psychiatrists, each of whom suggests the patient place a personal ad. Bruce is a highly emotional bisexual who...
, Baby With the Bathwater
Baby with the Bathwater
Baby with the Bathwater is a play by Christopher Durang about a boy named Daisy, his influences, and his eventual outcome.-Act I:Two parents who are completely unprepared for parenthood bring home their newborn baby. The two cannot seem to name the baby. John thinks the baby is a boy, but Helen...
, The Nature and Purpose of the Universe
The Nature and Purpose of the Universe
The Nature and Purpose of the Universe is a play written by Christopher Durang, first produced in 1975. The work is an absurdist comedy concerning the irony of Catholic dogma, a theme visited in other Durang plays, including Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Laughing Wild, and The...
, Titanic
Titanic (play)
Titanic, is a bizarre one-act play written by Christopher Durang. The play, which takes place on the RMS Titanic, was first staged at the Yale School of Drama in May, 1974.In February 1976, the play premiered at the Direct Theatre in New York City...
, A History of the American Film, The Idiots Karamazov, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Laughing Wild
Laughing Wild
Laughing Wild is a 1987 play written by Christopher Durang.The show is written for one actor and one actress. The woman's character is emotional and unstable, and talks about hitting someone in the supermarket who wouldn't get out of the way of the tuna fish she wanted to buy. The man's character...
, 'Dentity Crisis, The Actor's Nightmare
The Actor's Nightmare
The Actor's Nightmare is a short comic play by Christopher Durang. It involves an accountant named George Spelvin, who is mistaken for an actor's understudy and forced to perform in a play for which he doesn't know any of the lines.-Inspiration:...
, The Vietnamization of New Jersey
The Vietnamization of New Jersey
-External links:*...
, Betty's Summer Vacation
Betty's Summer Vacation
Betty's Summer Vacation is a play by Christopher Durang.In many ways, this play was a “comeback” hit for Durang. His career flourished in the late seventies and early eighties with off-Broadway smashes like The Marriage of Bette and Boo and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You...
, Adrift in Macao, Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge
Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge
Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge is a musical parody of the Charles Dickens story, A Christmas Carol. Written by Christopher Durang, the play was initially commissioned by in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when Durang was asked by Artistic Director Tracy Brigden to write a Christmas comedy...
, Miss Witherspoon, Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them, and a collection of one-act parodies meant to be performed in one evening entitled Durang/Durang that includes "Mrs. Sorken", "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls" (a parody of The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
), "A Stye Of the Eye", "Nina in the Morning", "Wanda's Visit", and "Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room".
Durang has performed as an actor for both stage and screen. He first came to prominence in his Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
satirical review Das Lusitania Songspiel, which he performed with friend and fellow Yale alum Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
. Later he co-starred in one of his own plays as Matt in The Marriage of Bette and Boo.
In film
Durang has denounced the Robert AltmanRobert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
1987 film adaptation
Beyond Therapy (film)
-Plot:Based on the play Beyond Therapy by Christopher Durang, it focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattanites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their respective psychiatrists, lecherous Stuart and scatterbrained Charlotte, each of whom suggests the patient place a...
of Beyond Therapy
Beyond Therapy
Beyond Therapy is a play by Christopher Durang.The farcical comedy focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattanites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their psychiatrists, each of whom suggests the patient place a personal ad. Bruce is a highly emotional bisexual who...
, calling it "horrific" and accusing Altman of totally rewriting the script "so that all psychology is thrown out the window, and the characters dash around acting crazy but with literally no behavioral logic underneath."
Durang has appeared as an actor in the 1987 comedy The Secret of My Succe$s
The Secret of My Succe$s
The Secret of My Success is a 1987 American comedy film starring Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater, produced and directed by Herbert Ross . The screenplay is written by Jim Cash, who previously co-scripted Top Gun.-Plot:Brantley Foster The Secret of My Success (sometimes stylized as The Secret of My...
, 1988's Mr. North
Mr. North
Mr. North is a 1988 American comedy-drama film starring Anthony Edwards, based on the 1973 novel Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder.Directed by Danny Huston, the film became a family project; produced by John Huston, it also stars Anjelica Huston, Danny's future wife Virginia Madsen, and Allegra...
, 1989's Penn & Teller Get Killed
Penn & Teller Get Killed
Penn & Teller Get Killed is a 1989 dark comedy film directed by Arthur Penn starring magicians Penn & Teller. The duo play themselves, and the plot involves them in a satirical account of what the audience would perhaps imagine the pair doing in their daily lives...
, and 1992's HouseSitter
HouseSitter
HouseSitter is a 1992 romantic comedy film directed by Frank Oz, written by Mark Stein, and starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise involves a woman with con-artist tendencies who worms her way into the life of a reserved architect by claiming to be his wife.-Plot:Newton Davis is a...
.
He has also written a number of unproduced screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s, including The Nun Who Shot Liberty Valance, The House of Husbands (which he co-authored with Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
), and The Adventures of Lola.
On television
Wanda's Visit, one of the six one-acts in Durang/Durang was originally written for the PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series Trying Times, and Durang played the part of The Waiter in that production.
Awards and honors
He received Obie Awards for Sister Mary Ignatius, The Marriage of Bette and Boo and Betty's Summer Vacation. He received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Book of a MusicalTony Award for Best Book of a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible...
for A History of the American Film.
Durang has been awarded numerous fellowships and high profile grants including a Guggenheim
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, a Rockefeller, the CBS Playwriting Fellowship, the Lecomte du Nouy Foundation grant, and the Kenyon Festival Theatre Playwriting Prize.
He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council, and is co-chair of the playwriting program at Juilliard. He was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in Drama in 2006 for Miss Witherspoon.
On May 17, 2010 he was presented with the very first Luminary Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards
New York Innovative Theatre Awards
The New York Innovative Theatre Awards were founded in 2004. These annual awards honor excellence in Off-Off-Broadway Theatre and help nurture and promote the Off-Off-Broadway community.-Mission statement:...
for his work Off-Off-Broadway.
External links
- Christopher Durang at the Internet Broadway Database
- tv.com
- Christopher Durang - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...