Christopher Durang Explains It All for You

6 Plays

Christopher Durang

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780802132321
• eBook ISBN: 9780802188922
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

A collection of dark comedies about terrible therapists, dysfunctional parents, and more, from a winner of a Tony Award for Best Play and three Obies.
Known for his dark, absurd humor and social commentary, Christopher Durang explores the pain and confusion of everyday life—and makes audiences laugh uproariously at the results. Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, the center of a storm of controversy for its satire of misplaced trust in religious authority, remains as powerful today as when it was originally produced. The excruciatingly funny The Nature and Purpose of the Universe asks whether Eleanor Mann's Job-like suffering is really her fault, while Titanic takes us into the heart of children's anger with their parents and parents' manipulation of their children. In Beyond Therapy, two horrifyingly human therapists pursue their own needs at the expense of the most mismatched couple ever to meet through a personal ad.
Also including 'Dentity Crisis and The Actor's Nightmare, this collection demonstrates that laughter is the best surgery, slicing through prejudice and hypocrisy, cutting out dead beliefs and inflamed opinions. These black comedies, lit by lightning bolts of truth and humor, come from "one of the most explosively funny American dramatists" ( Newsweek).
Includes:
The Nature and Purpose of the Universe
'Dentity Crisis
Titanic
The Actor's Nightmare
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You
Beyond Therapy

Beyond Therapy was presented off-Broadway by the Phoenix Theater in January 1981. The production was directed by Jerry Zaks, setting by Karen Schulz, costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, lighting by Richard Nelson, sound by David Rapkin. The cast was as follows:

BRUCE	Stephen Collins
PRUDENCE	Sigourney Weaver
DR. STUART FRAMINCHAM, psychiatrist	Jim Borelli
MRS. CHARLOTTE WALLACE, psychologist	Kate McGregor-Stewart
BOB	Jack Gilpin
ANDREW	Conan McCarty
PAUL RENNARD*	Nick Stannard

Beyond Therapy was presented on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in May 1982 by Warner Theatre productions/Claire Nichtern and FDM productions/François de Menil and Harris Maslansky. The production was directed by John Madden, setting by Andrew Jackness, costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, lighting by Paul Gallo, music coordination by Jack Feldman, stage management by Craig Jacobs. The cast was as follows:

BRUCE	John Lithgow
PRUDENCE	Dianne Wiest
DR. STUART FRAMINGHAM	Peter Michael Goetz
MRS. CHARLOTTE WALLACE	Kate McGregor-Stewart
BOB	Jack Gilpin
ANDREW	David Pierce

* The character of Paul, a previous suitor of Prudence, was written out of the final scene of the Broadway version.

ACT I

SCENE 1

A restaurant. BRUCE is seated, looking at his watch. He is thirty to thirty-four, fairly pleasant-looking, probably wearing a blazer with an open shirt.

Enter PRUDENCE, twenty-nine to thirty-two, attractive, semi-dressed up in a dress or nice skirt and blouse. After hesitating a moment, she crosses to BRUCE.

PRUDENCE: Hello.

BRUCE: Hello.

PRUDENCE (referring to a newspaper in her hand–The New York Review of Books): Are you the white male, thirty to thirty-five, 6’1”, blue eyes, who’s into rock music, movies, jogging, and quiet evening’s at home?

BRUCE: Yes, I am. (Stands.)

PRUDENCE: Hi, I’m Prudence.

BRUCE: I’m Bruce.

PRUDENCE: Nice to meet you.

BRUCE: Won’t you sit down?

PRUDENCE: Thank you. (Sits.) As I said in my letter, I’ve never answered one of these ads before.

BRUCE: Me neither. I mean, I haven’t put one in before.

PRUDENCE: But this time I figured, why not?

BRUCE: Right. Me too. (Pause.) I hope I’m not too macho for you.

PRUDENCE: No. So far you seem wonderful.

BRUCE: You have lovely breasts. That’s the first thing I notice in a woman.

PRUDENCE (a bit uneasy): Thank you.

BRUCE: You have beautiful contact lenses.

PRUDENCE: Thank you. I like the timbre of your voice. Soft but firm.

BRUCE: Thanks. I like your voice.

PRUDENCE: Thank you. I love the smell of Brut you’re wearing.

BRUCE: Thank you. My male lover Bob gave it to me.

PRUDENCE: What?

BRUCE: You remind me of him in a certain light.

PRUDENCE: What?

BRUCE: I swing both ways actually. Do you?

PRUDENCE (rattled, serious): I don’t know. I always insist on the lights being out. (Pause.)

BRUCE: I’m afraid I’ve upset you now.

PRUDENCE: No, it’s nothing really. It’s just that I hate gay people.

BRUCE: I’m not gay. I’m bisexual. There’s a difference.

PRUDENCE: I don’t really know any bisexuals.

BRUCE: Children are all innately bisexual, you know. If you took a child to Plato’s Retreat, he’d be attracted to both sexes.

PRUDENCE: I should imagine he’d be terrified.

BRUCE: Well, he might be, of course. I’ve never taken a child to Plato’s Retreat.

PRUDENCE: I don’t think they let you.

BRUCE: I don’t really know any children. (Pause.) You have wonderful eyes. They’re so deep.

PRUDENCE: Thank you.

BRUCE: I feel like I want to take care of you.

PRUDENCE (liking this tack better): I would like that. My favorite song is “Someone to Watch over Me.”

BRUCE (sings softly): “There’s a somebody I’m longing duh duh . . .”

PRUDENCE: Yes. Thank you.

BRUCE: In some ways you’re like a little girl. And in some ways you’re like a woman.

PRUDENCE: How am I like a woman?

BRUCE (searching, romantically): You . . . dress like a woman. You wear eye shadow like a woman.

PRUDENCE: You’re like a man. You’re tall, you have to shave. I feel you could protect me.

BRUCE: I’m deeply emotional, I like to cry.

PRUDENCE: Oh I wouldn’t like that.

BRUCE: But I like to cry.

PRUDENCE: I don’t think men s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Also by Christopher Durang
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• The Nature and Purpose of the Universe
• ’dentity Crisis
• Titanic
• The Actor’s Nightmare
• Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You
• Beyond Therapy