Miss Witherspoon: The Playwright

Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang has a large body of work, including A History of the American Film (Tony nomination, Best Book of a Musical, 1978), The Actor's Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Obie award), Beyond Therapy (on Broadway in 1982, with Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow), Baby with the Bathwater, The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie award, Dramatists Guild Hull Warriner Award), Laughing Wild, Durang/Durang (an evening of six plays including the Tennessee Williams' parody, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls), Sex and Longing (Lincoln Center Theatre starring Sigourney Weaver), and Betty's Summer Vacation (Obie award). Other recent works are Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge and the musical Adrift in Macao, with music by Peter Melnick. Durang is also a performer, and acted with E. Katherine Kerr in the N.Y. premiere of Laughing Wild, and with Jean Smart in the L.A. production. He shared in an acting ensemble Obie for The Marriage of Bette and Boo; and with John Augustine and Sherry Anderson has performed his crackpot cabaret Chris Durang and Dawne at the Criterion Center, Caroline's Comedy Club, Williamstown Summer Cabaret, and the Triad, winning a 1996 Bistro Award. In the early 80s, he and Sigourney Weaver co-wrote and performed in their acclaimed Brecht-Weill parody, Das Lusitania Songspiel, and were both nominated for Drama Desk awards for Best Performer in a Musical. In movies, he has appeared in The Secret of My Success, Mr. North, The Butcher's Wife, Housesitter, and The Cowboy Way, among others. He has a B.A. from Harvard College, and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama. Since 1994 he has been co-chair with Marsha Norman of the Playwriting Program at the Juilliard School. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.