Below: Liz Masters gets a little tipsy in her role as Selena in "Not My Fault," one of 10 short plays by Christopher Durang that Heller Theater is staging for its annual fund-raiser.
Photos by AARON SHOWALTER/Tulsa World
Christopher Durang's plays are short, but they pack a hilarious wallop
Late summer is a good time to laugh. It's too hot. People are tired and cranky. They need relief, and Heller Theater offers it each August in the form of light-hearted fun.Heller's annual fund-raising shows, such as "A Coupla White Chicks Sittin' Around Talking" in 2000 and last year's "Parallel Lives" are known as some of the funniest shows each year and play to sold-out audiences.
Local actress Liz Masters knows better than to mess with that formula, so she's staging "Durang-O-Rama," a collection of works by playwright Christopher DURANG ("Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You," "Beyond Therapy") beginning Thursday.
The plays are all short (most are 5-6 minutes) and all funny, Masters says.
"I think Durang is quite funny, and there's often something under the surface that he's skewering, having some fun with," she said. "Then some (of his plays) have no point, they're just silly and quirky.
"There's a gym teacher play that I defy anyone to sit through it and not be rolling on the floor. It's horrible, twisted, sick fun -- but
it's 
fun."
Durang has a bank of about 40 short plays, and Masters picked through them, deliberately throwing in a couple that she wanted to appear in. She chose the actors to participate, cast the plays and then delegated most of the directing duties.
"Actually, the whole thing came about because no one cast me in anything this spring or summer, and I thought, 'Well, I'm not going to sit home. I'm just going to have to produce something myself,'" Masters said.
Stories of a painfully unfunny comic, desperate women, infuriating bureaucracy and several dysfunctional relationships will be accompanied by local folk musician George Barton, providing instrumental music and a couple of original tunes in between scene changes.
"He'll be on stage for two hours. He's a good friend, isn't he?" Masters said with a laugh. In between acting and directing, Masters is also going to sing a song.
"It's purely a vanity thing. I'm actually more of a singer than an actor, but a lot of people don't even know it. I don't do musicals, for whatever reason," she said. It's likely she'll perform a work by singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler.
"Just be assured, it'll be something funny."
Michael Smith 581-8334
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
Durang-O-Rama's short plays theater
DMV Tyrant -- Corey Douglas directs Paul Carter and Mia Sorel in this customer service nightmare, featuring the most completely ineffective public servant ever.Woman Stand Up -- Susan Webb directs Liz Masters in a stand-up act by a woman haunted by her domineering mother and her inability to pull off the self-deprecating comedy style of Joan Rivers.
Not My Fault -- Gary Dean Sweeney directs Jason Watts, Sorel, Masters and himself in this tale of an alcoholic who's lost his job and his wife -- but it's not his fault. Just ask his (also alcoholic) enabler of a mother.
1-900-Desperate -- Watts directs Masters, Sorel, Webb, Douglas and Carter in a story of lonely women searching for love or something like it on a chat line.
Gym Teacher -- You think your junior high gym teacher was sadistic? Wait until you get a load of this guy (Sweeney). Directed by Watts.
Entertaining Mr. Helms -- Watts directs Sweeney, Webb, Douglas and Sorel in a political satire, based on U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms' proposed late '80s standards for NEA grant recipients. This is one "perfect" family.
Canker Sores & Other Distractions -- Sweeney directs Carter, Masters and Webb as a long-divorced couple meets to discuss reconciliation over dinner, but their plans are put asunder by a clueless waitress.
An Altar Boy Talks to God -- Watts directs Douglas and Sweeney in more political satire; a former altar boy goes to Heaven (or so he thinks) to ask God some of life's tough questions. The answers are shocking and unexpected.
Funeral Parlor -- Masters directs Watts and Webb as an eccentric mourner at a funeral causes the widow to question her own -- and society's -- handling of grief.
Naomi in the Living Room -- Webb directs Masters, Douglas and Sorel in this piece, which offers a couple subjected to a mother's erratic behavior.
AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS BY CHRISTOPHER DURANG
What
Heller Theater's annual fund-raising event
When
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Aug. 21-23
Where
Heller Theater, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave.
Tickets
$7, may be reserved by calling 746-5065