Laughing Wild

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Laughing Wild is a popular two-person show written by Christopher Durang for an actress and an actor. The woman's character is emotional and unstable, and talks about hitting someone in the supermarket who wouldn't get out of the way of the tuna fish she wanted to buy. The man's character is giving a speech about positive thinking, but keeps spiraling into negativity. He also, it turns out, is the man the woman hit in the supermarket. The show demands much of its actors as it is comprised of two 30-minute monologues (and then a 30 minute second act, some of it monologue, some of it scenes between the two characters). The original off-Broadway production featured Durang and E. Katherine Kerr. In Los Angeles the cast was Jean Smart and Durang, later replaced by Christine Ebersole and Grant Shaud. In 2005, the Huntington Theatre in Boston revived the play with Durang (again) and Debra Monk. Christopher Durang also wrote the popular plays: Beyond Therapy and The Actor's Nightmare.