Party Receives UK Premiere at Arts Theatre

A hit Off-Broadway in 1995 and Chicago's longest running gay play, David Dillon's Party receives its European premiere at central London fringe venue, the Arts Theatre, this month. The new production, directed by Andrew Neil and designed by Nigel Hook, runs 24 September to 7 November 1998, with previews from 22 September.

Party is a comedy about seven gay male friends who gather for a party and play a card game called Facts and Fantasies, an elaborate version of Truth or Dare. Players draw cards which tell them if they are to answer questions or enact fantasies. Through the course of the game, secrets are shared, hilarious and daring fantasies are performed. All seven friends wind up lip-synching and dancing naked to the Carpenters “Close to You”.

Dillon wrote Party in 1992 as a strong statement about friendship and as a celebration of the gay man. The play originally opened in Chicago for a six-week run which was extended to two years, making it the city's longest running gay play ever. In 1995, Party enjoyed a successful run at Off-Broadway's Douglas Fairbanks Theatre. Other productions have been staged in Los Angeles, Miami, Washington, San Francisco, Toronto, Pittsburgh as well as a Spanish version titled Fiesta in Mexico City.

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