The Pain and the Itch
Mainstage Theater
Written by
Bruce Norris
Directed by Anna D. Shapiro
With a young daughter in serious need of attention and a ravenous creature possibly prowling the upstairs bedrooms, what begins as an average Thanksgiving for one privileged family unravels into an exposé of disastrous choices and less-than-altruistic motives. THE PAIN AND THE ITCH is a scathing satire of the politics of class and race, a controversial, painfully human examination of denial and its consequences.
Featuring
Creative Team
Dan Ostling
Scenic Designer
Jennifer Von Mayrhauser
Costume Designer
Donald Holder
Lighting Designer
Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen
Sound Designer
Susie Cordon
Production Stage Manager
Photos of (1) Ada-Marie L. Gutierrez, Christopher Evan Welch, Mia Barron, and Jayne Houdyshell; (2) Aya Cash and Reg Rogers; (3) Ada-Marie L. Gutierrez and Jayne Houdyshell; and (4) Peter Jay Fernandez, Christopher Evan Welch, and Mia Barron by Joan Marcus.
“The best new play in many a season. There are heady, farcical peaks to this comedy that approach the manic genius of Preston Sturges. But Mr. Norris' real target is that great sentimental sham, the idealized American family.”
— New York Observer“One of the most satisfying theatrical events available today…Norris writes with a mind that is attuned to the blindness that passes for a shared vision among the emotionally smug and upwardly mobile.”
— New Yorker
“BRUCE NORRIS’S THE PAIN AND THE ITCH IS ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYING THEATRICAL EVENTS AVAILABLE TODAY. SEE IT!”
— Hilton Als, The New Yorker“WICKEDLY FUNNY. If you enjoy the bitterly articulate comedies of Edward Albee or the political provocations of Wallace Shawn, THIS PLAY IS NOT TO BE MISSED!”
— David Cote, NY1“HILARIOUS AND VICIOUS. This impeccable production, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, is a high-wire act of surprise, nuance and timing. EIGHT VIRTUOSO ACTORS pass and duck one another with the cumulative force of farce and catastrophe.”
— Linda Winer, Newsday