Roundabout Plans Off-Broadway Revival of Durang's Marriage of Bette and Boo

The Roundabout Theatre Company will revive Christopher Durang's 1985 comedy The Marriage of Bette and Boo in the summer of 2008 at its off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre. The new production, directed by Walter Bobbie, will begin performances on June 13 and open officially in July, continuing through September 7, 2008. Casting and design team will be announced shortly.

The Marriage of Bette and Boo is a dark comedy that takes a look at the complex marriage of Bette and Boo. Three decades of marriage, divorce, alcoholism, nervous breakdowns and death—all blended in a unique mix of irony, humor and farce—are played out in 33 quick scenes.

The play was originally produced at the Public Theater in May 1985 with Joan Allen and Graham Beckel in the title roles, directed by Jerry Zaks. The starry cast also included Olympia Dukakis, Mercedes Ruehl, Kathryn Grody and the playwright himself as the narrator son. The production won several Obie Awards, including one for Durang's script.

Durang, whose plays include Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Baby with the Bathwater, Laughing Wild, Sex and Longing and Betty's Summer Vacation, was most recently represented on the New York stage with the off-Broadway musical Adrift in Macao. He is co-chair of the playwrighting program at Juilliard. Bobbie returns to Roundabout after directing the 2003 Broadway production of Twentieth Century starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche.