Christopher Durang: Complete Full-Length Plays, 1975-1995

by Christopher Durang, Robert Brunstein (Introduction)

From one of America's freshest, most daring, and truly original playwrights! Marked by biting wit, hilarious parody, revealing characters, and a pastiche of pop culture, the plays of Christopher Durang have garnered Obie awards, acclaim, controversy, and a devout following.

Genres: Plays, Comedy, Theatre, Fiction

425 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

Reviews

[Chambers Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing collection!!!

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a single lingering doubt, my favorite playwright. His satires on how he views the world never cease to make me laugh first and then think later. Yes, in that order. I know some critics have complained about his (to put it in Durang's own words) "dot-dot-dot endings" but for me that's always the part where I stop laughing and start thinking. In the duration of his plays I am too busy laughing to think of any underlining meaning but once it ends and my humor is switched off, exasperated half at wanting *more!* and half at, like his critics, wishing he had given his characters a little more closure I start to analyze what has really been said throughout the play. In this volume there is a foreward and/or afterward where Durang tells you what inspired the concept for each play. This is good for anyone who either wants more clarity for a certain play or simply wants a sort of "behind-the-scenes" view of a master playwrite's ideas and where do they come from?

Durang specializes in parodies of our modern times. Most often our life's mini-stories don't get wrapped up neatly into the either-or categories of Happy vs. Tragic endings. We may often think we have arrived at a happy or tragic ending when in fact, since life goes on, those so-called happy or sad endings are really just beginnings for a brand new "mini-story" in our life. Like life the characters' lives simply go on long after the curtain falls and it's up to us, his audience to fill in the blanks.

I could go on and on about what makes Chris Durang so special to me but I think I've covered the main ideas and anyway, I'm not a fan of book reviews that rival the length of the actual book. So instead I will leave you with a suggestion:

I can confirm that this particular book is a fantastic ice breaker at parties. Even if no one has even heard of this playwright, you say? - Oh, *especially* if no one has heard of this playwright! (cue in the mwhahaha moment) I am going to use Beyond Therapy in this example because it was the one I chose at my own party years ago (but feel free to choose from any of his collected plays; any one of them are sure to entertain your guests to the n-th degree). Choose the funniest woman at your party (though not the one overly inclined to laugh or otherwise she will be laughing too hard when she reads her lines for anyone to make out heads or tails of what she's saying) and assign her the leading female role - trust me, her little added on "asides" as the script gets increasingly ridiculous will add a whole new level of humor! Then choose the most gentle mannered man at your party and assign him the role of the woman's psychologist. All other parts can be handed out at random or you can let your two "actors" assume multiple roles (I only had two "actors" at my party while everyone else sat back and laughed) and of course, no one has to "bodily" act out anything, just read the lines and "half-mime" the interactions without touching. Then sit back and prepare to be entertained...

[Karon Click · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laughing Wild almost made me cry I was laughing so hard.