Three one-acts from the writer The New York Times critic Ben Brantley described as "...one of our funniest playwrights," master of parody Christopher Durang, will be presented beginning November 9 at L'Etage Cabaret in Philadelphia. A Streetcar Named Durang: Two Burlesques and a Western will be presented by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, the Philadelphia-based theater company whose mission is to present classic absurdist theater to audiences in the Philadelphia region.
A Streetcar Named Durang: Two Burlesques and a Western includes three short parodies of works by
Tennessee Williams and
Sam Shepard: Desire, Desire, Desire, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls and A Stye of the Eye. The disturbingly gleeful Desire, Desire, Desire, is an affectionate send-up of
Tennessee Williams favorites A Streetcar Named Desire and A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with bits and pieces of
Marsha Norman's 'night Mother and
David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross thrown in for good measure. Giddy parody A Stye of the Eye is based on
Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, the New York Drama Critics Award for Best Play of the Year in 1985-1986. This hilarious homage to the poetic world out west includes references to Shepard's Fool for Love and Curse of the Starving Class,
John Pielmeier's Agnes of God and
David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. In For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, an irreverent send up of
Tennessee Williams' classic The Glass Menagerie, Amanda's future rests on her son Lawrence meeting the right partner; his obsession with glass swizzle sticks makes a match made in heaven near impossible.
Originally presented in The Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 2008, A Streetcar Named Durang received notable praise from both audience members and critics alike: "Attention, all theater-lovers: Don't miss this one! Eye-moppingly funny, and clever to boot..." -- Toby Zinman, The Philadelphia Inquirer and "...magic! That's what Durang and the IRC deliver." - Mark Cofta, Philadelphia City Paper. Proceeds from this production of A Streetcar Named Durang will support the IRC's upcoming production of George
Bernard Shaw's Misalliance at
Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5 in February 2015.
A Streetcar Named Durang features performers
Andrew Carroll, Langston Darby, Susan Giddings,
Kate Graham,
Kristen Norine, David Stanger and Tina Brock, who also directs the show. L'Étage Cabaret, the intimate 50-seat theater above Beau Monde Creperie at 6th & Bainbridge Streets in Philadelphia will host A Streetcar Named Durang. L'Etage's atmosphere and ambiance evoke the spirit of Paris in the '50's and '60's, featuring a full services dinner menu and bar service.
A Streetcar Named Durang will have seven performances at L'Étage Cabaret: Sunday, November 9; Friday, November 14; Sunday, November 16; Friday, November 21; Sunday, November 23; Wednesday, November 26; and Friday, November 28. Curtain is 7:30 pm for all shows; doors open 30 minutes prior. Tickets are $20.00, and are available online at
http://streetcar.bpt.me. Seating is very limited; reservations are recommended.
For more information and photos for A Streetcar Named Durang and The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, please visit
www.idiopathicridiculopathyconsortium.com.
2014 marks The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium's eighth season presenting challenging and rarely-produced absurdist gems from authors around the globe. This year, the IRC season included the critically-acclaimed, often sold out productions of Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros and
Jean Giraudoux's Ondine. The IRC is a 501C3 non-profit organization, and a member of The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. The IRC's 2014 season is made possible in part by generous grants from Wyncote Foundation; The Samuel S. Fels Fund; The Philadelphia Cultural Fund; The Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency with support also provided by PECO and administered regionally by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance; Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia; The
Charlotte Cushman Foundation; CHG Charitable Trust; and Plannerzone.
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