Dark comedic take on therapy at Curtain Call

Bruce meets Prudence at a restaurant. It is their first date, and they are both nervous. They shake hands. Bruce gestures her to her seat, and sits down across from her. He looks into her eyes. They share a moment. “You have beautiful breasts,” he says, and the worst date in human history is on its way in Beyond Therapy, playing in The Dressing Room Theatre, Stamford, beginning March 5

“Beyond Therapy is Christopher Durang’s best play, and certainly my favorite, set at time way before swiping left or right was a thing,” said Lou Ursone, Curtain Call executive director. “This show has such a wild collection of characters, that I love to watch the rehearsals, and the actors have a blast playing with these roles,” Ursone added. The characters he’s talking about include Prudence, alone in a jungle of naked ids, including her lascivious therapist Stuart, Bruce, Bruce’s lover Bob, and Bruce’s therapist Mrs. Wallace, whose aphasic loopiness masks a profound hostility to her patients and to…to everyone, really.

This 1981 play was well-received and transformed into a 1987 movie starring Julie Hagerty, Jeff Goldblum and Glenda Jackson. And while no direct connection is evidenced anywhere, it could be surmised that the fodder for this play came from one of TV’s most successful comedies – “The Bob Newhart Show” – which had as its setting, a psychiatrist’s office and included a bunch of zany patients. “That Newhart show was one of my favorites of the time,” Ursone noted.

Directing Beyond Therapy is Curtain Call veteran, John Atkin, who last season helmed the company’s successful production of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. “John is great to work with as an actor…he really takes the time to work with actors to talk about the lives of these characters and help find the truth in the roles, no matter how zany,” Ursone noted. Atkin said he was blessed to have a great turnout for auditions, giving him the perfect cast to bring this show to life. Atkin added, “People need to understand that this play is not appropriate for younger audiences as it includes adult/sexual language and situations. Think NC 17 if going to a movie.”

The cast includes Grady Dennis, Dana DiCerto, Marc Hartog, Kimberley Lowden, Aaron Newcome and Mikey Stack. Set design is by Peter Barbieiri, Jr., with costumes by Helen Adams and lighting design by Jamie LaJoie. Beyond Therapy is presented in cooperation with the City of Stamford and through special arrangement with Samuel French, Concord Theatricals company.

Performances from March 5 through 15 will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:00PM. Doors open one hour before show time for a “bring your own everything” format; seating is cabaret style. The Dressing Room Theatre is located at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT. Tickets are $35 for adults, $25 for senior citizens and $17.5 for children. Thrifty Thursday tickets are $27.50. Flex Passes offer discounts of 25% and more. Box Office: 203-461-6358 x 36 or on the web at www.curtaincallinc.com.

Curtain Call is the non-profit community-based theatre company in residence at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue in Stamford. Year-round productions and educational workshops for all ages are presented by and for area residents in The Kweskin Theatre and The Dressing Room Theatre.

Curtain Call was voted Fairfield County's BEST LOCAL THEATRE GROUP ten years running in the Annual Readers' Poll of the Fairfield County Weekly and has received similar BEST OF awards from Stamford Magazine and StamfordPlus magazine for 2008 through 2018. Curtain Call received The Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2011 and the ACE Award for Excellence in Arts & Culture from the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County.