My Memories: Christopher Durang

 No, I didn't know him.  (I wish I did).  I knew (know?) his plays.  His (dark) wit entranced me.  He grew up in the town next to mine.  He spent much of his time in "my area."  And he died not far from where I performed in my first Durang play.

I'd like to say that the first "real" play I did was by him, but it wasn't.  (That would be Tom Stoppard.)  I had done musicals in middle school and in my sophomore year in high school I was in the chorus of "Mame."  The following year, there was a fall drama.  (Actually two, "After Magritte" and "The Real Inspector Hound."  I was in the former and I don't think I comprehended it completely.  Or maybe all.)  Then there was a winter/spring(?) musical ("Carnival," for which we didn't have enough "male" performers and the lead was very nice but...To put it nicely,  Jerry Orbach had nothing to worry about vocally.)  And finally there was a one act penned by Mr. Durang that we did and took to the Bucks County Playhouse Student Theater Festival.

The play was "The Actor's Nightmare."  It is short, and usually accompanied by "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You," but not this time.  The English teacher directing the place had more students than he needed and decided to break up the parts of Ellen Terry and Sarah Siddons into 4.  I played Ellen in the later portion of the play. Which meant I was lucky enough to perform in a garbage can.  (How many people can say they performed on stage in a garbage can?)  If you haven't seen the play, I don't want to give anything away, but it's quite funny (especially if you have or had any acting aspirations) and if you have an opportunity to check it out, do so.  (Or if not, read the play!  READ the play.)  Because the director had split the two female characters into four, when our performance was critiqued, I think the judges got a fellow castmate and myself mixed up.  A judge made a comment about one of my castmates (and I wasn't paying that much attention), but then mentioned the garbage can, which was me!  What did he say?  I never did find out.

Several years later (and after I was out of college, where I minored in theater and had my hand in just about every production that was done during my four years there, offstage as well as on), a group of alums was raising money for the theater department and we performed "The Actor's Nightmare" and "Sister Mary..."  Once again, I was cast as Ellen, but this time I got to play the role all the way through!  I didn't just get to be in the garbage can, I got to stand on the "balcony" earlier in the play.  I don't remember much about the show, but one thing that I will never forget was the "balcony ledge" falling on my foot (after the main character climbed over it) during a rehearsal.  Thank goodness it was just a rehearsal because I stopped the show with my yelp of pain.

My memories are stronger of "Sister Mary," which I was not (initially) cast in.  However, somewhere along the way (and if I recall correctly not too long before the play was supposed to open), the lead left. (I don't recall why.)  There was probably some panic and I was asked to step in, which I did with much trepidation.  Luckily, part of the play has Sister Mary, "reading" questions from index cards.  I was able to use those cards not just to read the questions, but to have the answers as well.  (Thank you, Mr. Durang, for including that in the script; I wouldn't have been able to do it without.)  I also had a very supportive cast who were ready to back me up if I went off the rails.  (Did I?)  And of course, a director who believed in me (or had no other choice.)  I know that the week leading up to the show, I stayed at the home of the director and her spouse and while they went off to work, I stayed going over my lines.  (Was I on vacation or was I in between jobs at the time?).  

Miraculously both shows went off without a hitch.  (Or if there was one, I don't recall.)  We raised some money and I believe that was the last time I was actually on a stage as a performer.  (It was a long time ago...we're talking last century and several years before Diane Keaton took on the role for an adaptation that appeared on the Showtime network.)

"Sister Mary" was also the first Durang show that I saw when it appeared on Showtime in 2001.  (Am I bold enough to think I did a better interpretation of the character than Diane Keaton?  No comment.)  The most recent show (and one of the funniest) of Mr. Durang's that I saw was during the pandemic.  I paid to see several "shows" online and "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" was definitely my favorite.  You don't have to be a fan of Chekov to enjoy or "get" the play, but it doesn't hurt.  This play brought laughter and joy to me during a very dark period.  (What else could a pandemic be but dark?).  While the recorded cast was marvelous (who doesn't love David Hyde Pierce?), I would love to be able to be able to sit in the front row (because I LOVE being front and center) and see this performed right in front of me.

Christopher Durang is gone too soon (he was 75) and sadly who knows what more he would have done if not struck by  logopenic primary progressive aphasia.  In his spirit and memory, I will seek out his works when they are being performed.  He brought absurdity to the world; and it was a wonderful gift for us all.