His work often deals critically with issues of
child abuse,
Roman Catholic dogma, culture, and
homosexuality.
Ben Brantley summarized key themes from Durang's plays in a review written in 1994: 1) narcissism; 2) fear of engagement with a danger-filled world; 3) the strangulating nature of family ties; 4) sexual disorientation and the tenuousness of individual identity. To this list the abusive power of authority figures could be added. While Durang's use of parody and his criticism of many social institutions might appear overly cynical at times, he stated: ... when I say everyone is crazy that means it's a very bad day where the amount of crazy people in the world has spread out to the entire universe and it doesn't seem possible to cope with anything... I think we're all
neurotic. And I do think relationships are certainly difficult. Nonetheless, those lines in the play do get a laugh, so there's something. It's not as despairing as it sounds, but I don't not believe it. Much of Durang's style can be attributed to the aesthetic of
black comedy, a humor style that offers a fatalistic view of life. Durang discussed the particular frame of mind that requires the viewer to distance himself from the horrific episode of human suffering and pain; he explained:I exaggerate awful things further, and then I present it in a way that is funny, and for those of us who find it funny, it has to do with a very clear
suspension of disbelief. It is a play, after all, with acted characters; it allows us a distance we couldn’t have in reality. To me this distance allows me to find some rather serious topics funny.Durang suggested that his form of humor requires a double-consciousness, an ability to register scenes of cruelty or pain, while simultaneously comprehending the humor. He credited
Arthur Kopit's “tragicfarce” ''
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad'' as an early influence on his creative vision, a black comedy in which a woman totes her dead husband's corpse on vacation with her. Humor is one way of resolving conflict and anxiety, and black comedy goes a step further to relieve tension regarding subjects that are typically difficult to think about, such as death, family dysfunction, or torture. His works include those in the bibliography as well as a collection of one-act parodies meant to be performed in one evening entitled
Durang/Durang that includes "Mrs. Sorken", "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls" (a parody of
The Glass Menagerie by
Tennessee Williams), "A Stye of the Eye", "Nina in the Morning", "Wanda's Visit", and "Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room". Together with
Marsha Norman, Durang directed The Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the
Juilliard School from 1984 to 2016, teaching playwrights Joshua Harmon and Noah Haidle, as well as Pulitzer-Prize winning
David Lindsay-Abaire, who succeeded Durang as co-director. Durang performed as an actor for both stage and screen. He first came to prominence in his
Off-Broadway satirical review
Das Lusitania Songspiel, which he performed with friend and fellow Yale alum
Sigourney Weaver. Later he co-starred in one of his own plays as Matt in
The Marriage of Bette and Boo, as well as Man in the original production of
Laughing Wild.
In film Durang denounced the
Robert Altman 1987
film adaptation of
Beyond Therapy, calling it "horrific". He accused Altman of totally rewriting the script "so that all psychology is thrown out the window, and the characters dash around acting crazy but with literally no behavioral logic underneath." Durang appeared as an actor in the 1987 comedy
The Secret of My Success, 1988's
Mr. North, 1989's
Penn & Teller Get Killed, 1990's
In the Spirit, 1992's
Housesitter, and 1994's
The Cowboy Way. Durang wrote a number of unproduced screenplays, including
The Nun Who Shot Liberty Valance,
The House of Husbands (which he co-authored with
Wendy Wasserstein), and
The Adventures of Lola.
On television ''Wanda's Visit
, one of the six one-acts in Durang/Durang,
was originally written for the PBS series Trying Times''. Durang played the part of The Waiter in that production. Durang appeared as himself on the October 11, 1986 episode of
Saturday Night Live, hosted by his longtime friend Sigourney Weaver. In the episode, Durang and Weaver parodied the works of
Bertolt Brecht, and both were interviewed in the debut of the recurring sketch
Church Chat, with Durang as himself. Durang's 1987 sketch "The Funeral", written for a televised
Carol Burnett special, features a grieving widow (Burnett) who is disturbed at her husband's wake by an eccentric mourner, played by
Robin Williams. ==Personal life and death==