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The Theatre of Christopher Durang

Miriam Chirico (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

248 Seiten

2020
Methuen Drama (Verlag)
978-1-4742-8892-7 (ISBN)

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The Theatre of Christopher Durang considers the works of one of the foremost comedic writers for the American stage. From Durang’s early success with the controversial Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You (1974) to his recent Tony Award-winning play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2012), he has been an original theatrical voice in American theatre. Edith Oliver, long-time theatre critic for The New Yorker, described Durang as “one of the funniest men in the world.” Durang challenges traditional dramatic idioms with his irreverent comedies that are as shocking as they are prescient and compassionate.

This volume provides the first comprehensive examination of Durang’s works and incorporates comedic theory to examine how laughter in performance subverts social conventions and hierarchies. Through a clear, detailed discussion of the plays, Miriam Chirico considers Durang’s use of black comedy, satire, and parody to explode such topics as: western literature, religion, dysfunctional families, and American social malaise. Robert Combs and Jay Malarcher provide additional critical perspectives about Durang’s works, detailing his use of alienation techniques and locating his place within the American parodic tradition. The book also includes a warm introduction by Durang’s former student, Pulitzer Prize-winner, David Lindsay-Abaire. The Theatre of Christopher Durang, in demonstrating how Durang has shaped contemporary theatrical possibilities, offers a valuable guide for students of American drama and comedy.

Miriam M. Chirico specializes in dramatic literature and comedy studies at Eastern Connecticut State University, where she is Professor of English. Together with Kelly Younger, she edited How to Teach a Play: Essential Exercises for Popular Plays, also by Methuen Drama. She is most recently the author of “Performed Authenticity: Narrating the Self in the Comic Monologues of David Sedaris, John Leguizamo and Spalding Gray,” (Studies in American Humor 2016), and has written articles for Text and Presentation, Comparative Drama, and Shaw: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies. This is her first book.

Acknowledgements
Preface: “Christopher Durang Explains It All For Me,” by David Lindsay-Abaire (Playwright, USA)

Introduction: Christopher Durang’s Dark Comedy
1 Perverting the Classics
The Idiots Karamazov
The Vietnamization of New Jersey
History of the American Film
Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge
Adrift in Macao

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

3 One-Act Plays
Durang/Durang

4 Family Dysfunction
Titanic
Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes
‘dentity Crisis
Baby with the Bathwater
The Marriage of Bette & Boo

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

6 Conclusion
7 Critical Perspectives
We Laugh-Track People: Christopher Durang’s Drama of Audience Participation, Robert Combs (George Washington University, USA)

The Marriage of Parody and Satire: The All-American Comedy of Christopher Durang,
Jay Malarcher (West Virginia University, USA)

List of Contributors
Notes
Works Cited

Erscheinungsdatum	15.05.2020
Reihe/Serie	Critical Companions
Mitarbeit	Herausgeber (Serie): Jr. Wetmore Kevin J., Patrick Lonergan
Zusatzinfo	5 bw illus
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	138 x 216 mm
Gewicht	382 g
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Theater / Ballett
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
ISBN-10	1-4742-8892-8 / 1474288928
ISBN-13	978-1-4742-8892-7 / 9781474288927
Zustand	Neuware