A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Hurlyburly

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  3w, 4m

David Rabe

David Rabe’s eviscerating dark comedy depicts characters nose-deep in the decadent, perverted, cocaine culture that is Hollywood, pursuing a sex-crazed, drug-addled vision of the American Dream.

Hurlyburly

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 4m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Nominee: Four 1985 Tony Awards, including Best Play

Details

Summary
This riveting comedy/drama took New York by storm in a production directed by Mike Nichols and starring William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Judith Ivey, Christopher Walken, Harvey Keitel, Cynthia Nixon and Jerry Stiller. David Rabe’s eviscerating play depicts characters nose-deep in the decadent, perverted, cocaine culture that is Hollywood, pursuing a sex-crazed, drug-addled vision of the American Dream. Later stage and screen incarnations have attracted such actors as Ethan Hawke, Meg Ryan, Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey.
History
After a successful off-Broadway run, Hurlyburly premiered on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on August 7, 1984. Directed by Mike Nichols, the production featured William Hurt, Judith Ivey, Harvey Keitel, Cynthia Nixon, Ron Silver, Jerry Stiller and Sigourney Weaver. Ivey earned a Tony Award for her performance.
Keywords
Performing Groups
EDDIE
PHIL
MICKEY
ARTIE
DARLENE
BONNIE
DONNA
  • Time Period 1980s
  • Setting A two-story house in the Hollywood Hills. Early 1980s.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Drugs
    • Intense Adult Themes
    • Strong Language

Media

“An important work, masterfully accomplished.” – Time

“Offers some of Mr. Rabe’s most inventive and disturbing writing. At his impressive best, Mr. Rabe makes grim, ribald, and surprisingly compassionate comedy out of the lies and rationalizations that allow his alienated men to keep functioning if not feeling in the fogs of Lotusland. They work in an industry so corrupt that its only honest executives are those who openly admit that they lie.” – The New York Times

“A powerful permanent contribution to American drama... riveting, disturbing, fearsomely funny... has a savage sincerity and a crackling theatrical vitality. This deeply felt play deserves as wide an audience as possible.” – Newsweek

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

Author

David Rabe

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