“The best thing I've seen this week lasted under an hour and was staged at lunchtime... I wish more showed the initiative of Occam's Razor, who are packing out the Bridewell Theatre off Fleet Street with The Actor's Nightmare, a deliciously silly comedy by Christopher Durang about the ultimate thespian nightmare: stepping out before an audience wholly unrehearsed... Thomas Richardson's appealingly goofy George maintains that he's not an actor but an accountant - yet that doesn't prevent him from being shoved on stage... What follows hits peaks of excruciating awkwardness worthy of Ricky Gervais's Extras...even the most morose wage-slaves will emerge from this hammy froth with a smile on their face.” (The Daily Telegraph)
'dentity CrisisA “... scathing, scorching double bill that the King's Head calls American Nights.” (The Times)
“2+2+2 is preceded by 'dentity Crisis, a brief, absurdist drama by Christopher Durang...a cracking comedy about a malfunctioning all-American family in which the mad are sane and the sane mad. There is a hilarious mother (Nancy Baldwin) who prances about in a Grayson Perry-style dress and believes she has invented cheese, and a quite brilliant turn from Chris Giangiordano, who in the space of about ten seconds has to pull off a gangly American teenager, a stern father, a doddery grandfather and a libidinous French count. The cast keeps the whole show on the road (just) with a steel grip on lines and a dogged faith that cross-dressing psychiatrists, suicide attempts and ridiculous double entendres about bananas will make for a funny 35 minutes. They certainly do.” (New Statesman)
“If you like your theatre dark and quirky, demented and delusional, then this is the double bill for you. 'dentity Crisis, by Christopher Durang, opens the American Nights evening. Clare Wilkie stars as Jane, recovering from a nervous breakdown and harassed by her exuberant and utterly mad mother Edith Fromage, who claims to have invented cheese. Nancy Baldwin excels as the loopy Edith, tirelessly effervescent and insane. Wilkie puts in a stellar performance as the miserable Jane, while Chris Giangiordano delivers a scene-stealing turn as the multiple personality male of the household, switching between incestuous son, weighty husband and doddering grandfather in the blink of an eye. Throw into the mix Jane's gender-bending psychologist and wife, played by Andy Pandini and Andrea Sadler, and the result is an absurd and amusing production that pokes fun at notions of identity and sanity.” (The Stage)
“The talented Christopher Durang's 'dentity Crisis is the curtain opener...The play has a mounting pace that is hard to resist… With the help of their directors Sherrill Gow and Alex Helfrecht, Durang and Tittel respectively have created productions that burst with energy. At a time when apathy is everywhere, they manage to criticise Western values while unashamedly embracing life.” (Ham & High)
“Christopher Durang’s 1978 ’dentity Crisis recalls the sixties psychiatric dominance of R D Laing, seeing madness as socially-conditioned. Young Jane sits silently in her pink dress. She’s the character to ’dentify with as the insanity of middle-class American ‘normality’ erupts around her... Sherrill Gow’s cast provide high energy, and the belief all’s natural in this world, leaving Clare Wilkie’s subdued, puzzled Jane anchorless, defined by others as having mental issues.” (Reviews Gate)
