Stage Door News
Stage Door News
David Mirvish is delighted to present the Studio 180 Theatre production of MY NIGHT WITH REG, by Kevin Elyot, directed by Joel Greenberg. MY NIGHT WITH REG plays February 10 to 26 at the Panasonic Theatre.
The story begins in the summer of 1985. Old friends and new gather to party through the night. What they don’t realize is that their world is about to change forever.
MY NIGHT WITH REG originally premiered at London's Royal Court Theatre in 1994. It received critical and popular acclaim, immediately recognized as having captured a pivotal moment in the life of a community at the edge of a precipice. It transferred to the West End for a very successful season and won that year’s Olivier Award for Best Comedy. It was revived by the Donmar Warehouse in 2015, again receiving raves from the critics and playing to sold-out houses. The revival also transferred to the West End for another successful season.
Despite, the play’s status as a classic of contemporary British drama, it has not often been produced in North America. This Studio 180 Theatre production is the play’s professional Canadian premiere.
The Story
Critic Charles Spencer in THE TELEGRAPH in his review of the 2015 revival describes the action of the play best, so we defer to him:
"The action is set at the new London flat of the house-proud Guy who, at the beginning of the play, has invited two of his former university friends, now in their mid-thirties, to a housewarming party. He has always held a torch for John, a rich, languid public school type, but poor Guy but has lived a life of almost complete chastity. The play is set in the mid-Eighties when anxiety about AIDS was at its peak. The one person you would put money on not getting infected is Guy. As one of his friends puts it, he is so fastidious that he even wears Marigold-brand gloves when masturbating.
Needless to say Guy’s hopes of romance come to nothing, for John has just begun an affair with Reg, the long-term partner of his best friend Daniel, the other guest at the housewarming bash.
One of the play’s great counterintuitive strengths is that we never actually meet Reg, but just hear about his sexual adventures with a host of partners. Indeed almost everyone in the play, it transpires, has slept with this lothario with the exception of the unhappily celibate Guy.
I don’t want to give too much away, as surprise is of the essence here, but the drama's four-year time span is structured with formidable skill, and turns on a sixpence between laughter and piercing moments of deeper feeling. At Guy’s London flat, old friends and new gather to party through the night. This is the summer of 1985, and for Guy and his circle the world is about to change forever. Deliciously funny and bittersweet, MY NIGHT WITH REG captures the fragility of friendship, happiness and life itself.”
MY NIGHT WITH REG is directed by Joel Greenberg and stars Tim Funnell, Alex Furber, Martin Happer, Jeff Miller, Gray Powell and Jonathan Wilson; with Lighting Design by Kimberly Purtell; Set & Costume Design by John Thompson and Sound Design by Garth Helm.
MY NIGHT WITH REG
February 10 - 26, 2017
Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge Street
Toronto
Performance Schedule:
Tuesday - Saturday at 8:00 PM
Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 PM
Added Wednesday matinee, February 22 at 2:00 PM
Tickets: $39 - $92
Ticketking 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333
Online Ticket Sales: www.mirvish.com
Twitter @mirvishFacebook: Mirvish Productions
2017-01-24
Toronto: David Mirvish and Studio 180 present "My Night with Reg" February 10-26