Birth Place: Montclair, NJ, USA
Christopher Ferdinand Durang (January 2, 1949 – April 2, 2024) was an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in the late 1990s.
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was Durang's watershed play as it brought him to national prominence when it won him the Obie Award for Best Playwright (1980). His play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2013. The production was directed by Nicholas Martin, and featured Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Billy Magnussen, Shalita Grant and Genevieve Angelson. Durang was a past co-director of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard.
Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Christopher Durang
Christopher Durang, Miss Witherspoon
Christopher Durang, Miss Witherspoon
Christopher Durang, Betty's Summer Vacation
Christopher Durang, The Marriage of Bette and Boo
Christopher Durang, Das Lusitania Songspiel
Christopher Durang, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You
Christopher Durang, A History of the American Film
Christopher Durang has written 21 shows including Das Lusitania Songspiel (Author), Titanic (Playwright), A History of the American Film (Bookwriter/Lyricist), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You (Playwright), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You/ The Actor's Nightmare (Playwright), Beyond Therapy (Playwright), Baby with the Bathwater (Playwright), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Playwright), Laughing Wild (Playwright), Urban Blight (Bookwriter), Durang/ Durang (Playwright), Sex and Longing (Playwright), Betty's Summer Vacation (Playwright), Adrift in Macao (Bookwriter), Miss Witherspoon (Playwright), The Marriage Of Bette And Boo (Playwright), Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them (Playwright), All About Me (Playwright), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Playwright), In Your Arms (Story), Pamela's First Musical (Bookwriter).
Christopher Durang has been nominated for several awards throughout his career, including the Legend of Off Broadway Honoree, Best Play (BroadwayWorld Awards), Outstanding Play (Drama Desk Awards), Best Play (Tony Awards), Playwrights' Sidewalk Inductee (The Lortels), The Pulitzer Prize for Drama (The Pulitzer Prize), Playwriting (Obie Awards), Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Drama Desk Awards), and Best Book of a Musical (Tony Awards). Some of the notable works he has been recognized for include "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," "Miss Witherspoon," "Betty's Summer Vacation," "The Marriage of Bette and Boo," "Das Lusitania Songspiel," "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You," and "A History of the American Film."
Christopher Durang has won several awards, including Legend of Off Broadway Honoree for "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," Best Play at the BroadwayWorld Awards for the same play, Playwrights' Sidewalk Inductee at The Lortels, and Playwriting Obie Awards for "Betty's Summer Vacation," "The Marriage of Bette and Boo," and "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You."
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