Silver Agonistes

Nicky Silver might be the playwright for our time: a master of genre mash-ups that exults in transgressing taboos, chasing skeletons from closets, and punting propriety into the cheap seats while dropping more cultural references than the Fox Sunday lineup. Imagine The Breakfast Club written, directed, and performed by Oscar...

By Nicholas Gerbis

November 25, 2010

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Nicky Silver might be the playwright for our time: a master of genre mash-ups that exults in transgressing taboos, chasing skeletons from closets, and punting propriety into the cheap seats while dropping more cultural references than the Fox Sunday lineup. Imagine The Breakfast Club written, directed, and performed by Oscar Wilde, Christopher Durang, John Waters, Chuck Palahniuk, and a dinosaur with a cannibalistic, oedipal Principal Vernon subplot.

The Agony and the Agony depicts a failed playwright attempting a comeback while confronting his sham marriage, his wife’s lover, his spirit-crushing producer, his pregnant girlfriend, and a notorious killer’s ghost. One epochal evening lays secrets bare, makes dreams real, and dashes hopes.

Leave the kids at home (there’s harsh language and adult content) and expect anything.

Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 2 p.m.; Thu., Dec. 2, 7 p.m. Starts: Nov. 19. Continues through Dec. 5, 2010

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