Sexual Perversity in Chicago

Synopsis

Chicago provides a hotbed of opportunity for Danny and his friend Bernie, two red-blooded males playing the mating and dating game. Bars, libraries, beaches, they'll go anyway that the women are, the very places frequented by smarts girls like Joan and Deborah. Driven by impulses both primitive and subtle they grapple with themselves and each other in their desire to establish relationships or real fulfilment. The underscores a familiar dance, but the raw nerves and wry smiles provide plenty of belly-laughs as things fall apart. This play contains language that may cause offence.

Our Review:

15 May 2003

Schadenfreude-fuelled stargazers will be disappointed by Sexual Perversity in Chicago: neither Friends funnyman Matthew Perry nor Briton-in-Hollywood actress Minnie Driver embarrass themselves in their West End debuts. That said, fans are unlikely to leave satisfied either. Although their two names take top billing, they're not the stars of the show. That distinction falls to Perry and Driver's less well-known co-stars, Kelly Reilly and, most especially, Hank Azaria.

This 1974 play first made the name of author David Mamet, who has since had huge success on stage and screen with the likes of American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow, House of Games, Oleanna and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross. Written when Mamet was just 27, Sexual Perversity bears the hallmarks of his later work: rapid-fire - and often filthy - dialogue, misogynistic posturing and moral vacuousness.

The beaches, bars and bedr...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (195.92.67.76) - 1 August 2003:

I thought the play was great, though I can see why some people would not like it, but not to the extent some people seem to dislike it. More for a younger audience I would say. Hank Azaria was brilliant as Bernie and Matthew Perry great as Danny. The scene changes were swift, flowed smoothly and the music fitting. A great night out....

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