Battered, bruised, and desperate for connection, Danny and Roberta collide in a grimy bar in the Bronx. As they battle their pasts and each other, they must decide if they dare to lower their defenses and risk truly being seen. From the playwright of Doubt and Outside Mullingar, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is a violent, funny, and intimate portrait of two broken people fumbling toward hope.
John Patrick Shanley is a New York-based American playwright, screenwriter, and director. His work has garnered him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a Tony Award, and an Academy Award, among many other honours. Shanley has written more than 23 plays which are produced around the world. Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, his second play, premiered in 1983.
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is subtitled “An Apache Dance”, which is a violent dance for two, originating in Paris. The dance is a grueling ordeal in which the woman pursues the man and is subjected to increasingly violent rejections. Danny turns this dynamic on its head- Danny and Roberta trade blows and swap the roles of pursuer and pursued. Shanley dedicated this play “to everyone in the Bronx who punched or kissed me, and to everyone whom I punched or kissed.”
Directed by Kenton Klaassen
Featuring Paige Louter and Joel Butler
Stage Management, Lighting and Props Design by Phil Miguel
Sound Design by Shona Strutters
Set and costume design by Paige Louter
