The Theatre of Christopher Durang
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The Theatre of Christopher Durang documents and analyses the major plays and productions of one of America’s significant contemporary playwrights who has contributed much to the American stage by his provocative works. It covers both his full-length and one-act plays, from his early success of Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You (1974) to his most recent Tony-Award winning play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2012). Durang has given an original theatrical voice to American theatre by writing comedies that are irreverent and shocking, yet profoundly draw a connection between fear and laughter. This book, the first to provide an in-depth analysis of his plays, examines Durang’s use of specific comedic genres such as black comedy, satire, and farce as the means to explore American social malaise. Placing Durang within a tradition of Theater of the Absurd, the author incorporates comedic theory to examine how laughter in performance can dissolve hierarchies and subvert social conventions. More than any other playwright, Durang challenges traditional drama by breaking from typical realistic constructions of character, motivation, and plot. By offering a comprehensive examination of Durang’s works, this study demonstrates how Durang’s innovational dramaturgy and unique commentary on American culture has shaped our current theatrical possibilities, particularly in comedy. Additional critical perspectives are offered by scholars of American theatre, together with further resources to aid study and research. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Foreword: Christopher Durang Explains It All for Me Introduction: Christopher Durang’s Dark Comedy Chapter 1: Perverting the Classics The Idiots Karamazov Vietnamization of New Jersey: A American Tragedy A History of the American Film Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge Adrift in Macao Chapter 2: Seeking Is Believing The Nature and Purpose of the Universe Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You Laughing Wild Sex and Longing Miss Witherspoon Chapter 3: One-Act Plays Chapter 4: Family Dysfunction Titanic Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes ’dentity Crisis Baby with the Bathwater The Marriage of Bette and Boo Chapter 5: American Anomie Beyond Therapy Media Amok Betty’s Summer Vacation Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chapter 6: Critical Perspectives We Laugh Track People: Christopher Durang’s Drama of Audience Participation Robert Combs The Marriage of Parody and Satire: The All-American Comedy of Christopher Durang Jay Malarcher Conclusion Notes Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Works Cited Contributors Index
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