Beyond Therapy
Encyclopedia
Beyond Therapy is a play by Christopher Durang
.
The farcical comedy
focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattan
ites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their psychiatrists
, each of whom suggests the patient place a personal ad
. Bruce is a highly emotional bisexual who tends to cry easily, a trait homophobic
Prudence sees as a weakness. Their first meeting proves to be disastrous and the two report back to their respective therapists - libidinous
Stuart, who once seduced Prudence, and eccentric Charlotte, who stumbles over the simplest of words, references the play Equus
as a good source of advice, and interacts with Bruce and all her patients with the help of a stuffed Snoopy
. Clearly the two are more troubled than their patients. Charlotte suggests a revised ad, which once again attracts Prudence, but this time she and Bruce manage to get past their initial loathing and discover they actually like each other. Complications ensue when Bruce's jealous live-in lover Bob decides to assert himself and do everything possible to maintain his status quo
.
An off-Broadway
production directed by Jerry Zaks
opened on January 1, 1981 at the Phoenix Theatre in New york, where it ran for 30 performances. The cast included Sigourney Weaver
as Prudence, Stephen Collins
as Bruce, Jim Borrelli as Stuart, Kate McGregor-Stewart as Charlotte, and Jack Gilpin as Bob.
After eleven previews, the Broadway
production, directed by John Madden
, opened on May 26, 1982 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
, where it ran for 21 performances. The cast included Dianne Wiest
as Prudence, John Lithgow
as Bruce, and Peter Michael Goetz
as Stuart, with Mc-Gregor-Stewart and Gilpin reprising their off-Broadway roles. David Hyde Pierce
made his Broadway debut in the small role of a waiter.
McGregor-Stewart was nominated for the Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play.
In 1987, Durang adapted his play for a screenplay
that was rewritten substantially by director Robert Altman
. Although the two shared a screenwriting credit, Durang described the project as "a very unhappy experience and outcome." http://www.christopherdurang.com/filmtv2.htm
Beyond Therapy remains one of Durang's most frequently produced plays around the country, and is popular in colleges, regional
, and community theatre
s. A recording of the play, featuring Catherine O'Hara
as Prudence and David Hyde Pierce as Bruce, has been released on CD by the Fynsworth Alley label http://store.fynsworthalley.com/16253.html.
Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang is an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s.- Life :...
.
The farcical comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
ites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their psychiatrists
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, each of whom suggests the patient place a personal ad
Personal advertisement
A personal or personal ad is an item or notice traditionally in the newspaper, similar to a classified ad but in nature. In British English it is also commonly known as an advert in a lonely hearts column. With its rise in popularity, the World Wide Web has also become a common medium for...
. Bruce is a highly emotional bisexual who tends to cry easily, a trait homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
Prudence sees as a weakness. Their first meeting proves to be disastrous and the two report back to their respective therapists - libidinous
Libido
Libido refers to a person's sex drive or desire for sexual activity. The desire for sex is an aspect of a person's sexuality, but varies enormously from one person to another, and it also varies depending on circumstances at a particular time. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly...
Stuart, who once seduced Prudence, and eccentric Charlotte, who stumbles over the simplest of words, references the play Equus
Equus (play)
Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
as a good source of advice, and interacts with Bruce and all her patients with the help of a stuffed Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
. Clearly the two are more troubled than their patients. Charlotte suggests a revised ad, which once again attracts Prudence, but this time she and Bruce manage to get past their initial loathing and discover they actually like each other. Complications ensue when Bruce's jealous live-in lover Bob decides to assert himself and do everything possible to maintain his status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
.
An off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production directed by Jerry Zaks
Jerry Zaks
Jerry Zaks is a German-born American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me A Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and Drama...
opened on January 1, 1981 at the Phoenix Theatre in New york, where it ran for 30 performances. The cast included Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
as Prudence, Stephen Collins
Stephen Collins
Stephen Weaver Collins is an American actor, writer, and singer. He is perhaps best known for playing the role of Eric Camden on the long running television series 7th Heaven and more recently as Dr. Dayton King on the ABC TV series No Ordinary Family.-Early life:Collins was born in Des Moines,...
as Bruce, Jim Borrelli as Stuart, Kate McGregor-Stewart as Charlotte, and Jack Gilpin as Bob.
After eleven previews, the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production, directed by John Madden
John Madden (director)
John Philip Madden is an English director of theatre, film, television, and radio.- Biography :Madden was educated at Clifton College. He was in the same house as friend and fellow director Roger Michell. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from the University of...
, opened on May 26, 1982 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
The Brooks Atkinson Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 256 West 47th Street in Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was constructed as the Mansfield Theatre by the Chanin brothers in 1926. After 1933, the theatre fell into relative disuse until 1945, when Michael Myerberg...
, where it ran for 21 performances. The cast included Dianne Wiest
Dianne Wiest
Dianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
as Prudence, John Lithgow
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
as Bruce, and Peter Michael Goetz
Peter Michael Goetz
Peter Michael Goetz is an American actor.Goetz was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Esther L. and Irving A. Goetz, a construction engineer. Goetz studied at the State University of New York at Fredonia, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the University of Minnesota, from which he...
as Stuart, with Mc-Gregor-Stewart and Gilpin reprising their off-Broadway roles. David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
made his Broadway debut in the small role of a waiter.
McGregor-Stewart was nominated for the Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play.
In 1987, Durang adapted his play for a screenplay
Beyond Therapy (film)
-Plot:Based on the play Beyond Therapy by Christopher Durang, it focuses on Prudence and Bruce, two Manhattanites who are seeking stable romantic relationships with the help of their respective psychiatrists, lecherous Stuart and scatterbrained Charlotte, each of whom suggests the patient place a...
that was rewritten substantially by director Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
. Although the two shared a screenwriting credit, Durang described the project as "a very unhappy experience and outcome." http://www.christopherdurang.com/filmtv2.htm
Beyond Therapy remains one of Durang's most frequently produced plays around the country, and is popular in colleges, regional
Regional theatre in the United States
Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...
, and community theatre
Community theatre
Community theatre refers to theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community...
s. A recording of the play, featuring Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
as Prudence and David Hyde Pierce as Bruce, has been released on CD by the Fynsworth Alley label http://store.fynsworthalley.com/16253.html.