THE STORY: It’s May 1973 when a young man wanders into a dilapidated community theater in Reading, PA. The company members welcome him—well, only because they need a set painter that day. The young man then proceeds to soak up all the idealism and the craziness that comes with being part of a struggling theater company with big dreams. When a playwright looks back at his beginnings in the theater and decides to chronicle those experiences in a play, all sorts of things can happen. If you’re Douglas Carter Beane, who grew out of his Reading, PA, community theater days to become one of the stage’s master writers, it’s bound to bring a measure of gimlet-eyed reflection, a large dollop of self-deprecation, and a heaping dose of hilarity.
“As the author of plays like
The Little Dog Laughed, Mr. Beane has proved himself one of our most agile and penetrating satirists. But SHOWS FOR DAYS is trying for something deeper and more affectionate. This play is [in the mold of]
Act One, Moss Hart’s star-struck memoir of falling in love with showbiz, flavored with the rose-colored hue of
The Glass Menagerie.” —The New York Times.
“SHOWS FOR DAYS tugs at the theater-lover’s heartstrings…the play finely showcases Beane’s razor-sharp wit—a talent we see his corresponding character hone throughout the play itself, foreboding Beane’s future oeuvre of Tony Award®-nominated works…” —TheaterMania.
“Delicious and toothsome…” —Deadline.
