Theater

Cape Coral audiences might not have been exposed to the comedy of Christopher Durang before, but Cultural Park Theatre Company executive/artistic director Leo Wolfe is betting they'll like Durang's often wicked humor once they hear it.

Of course, you could say that Wolfe is hedging his bets, since Durang, Durang!, which closes the company's 2003-04 season this month, is actually an evening of six short plays by Durang (probably best known for Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and Beyond Therapy). If you don't like one of them, perhaps you'll respond to another-for example, The DMV Tyrant, which presents the universal situation of a citizen facing a person behind the counter who is just not going to be helpful.

At press time, Wolfe hadn't determined all six of his choices from among Durang's 27 short plays, although he was firm on Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room (a face-off between a New York playwright who's essentially Durang himself and a stereotypical L.A. agent) and Mrs. Sorken, in which a woman who's never done any public speaking tries to introduce the evening's entertainment without using notes. Beyond those and The DMV Tyrant, another possible is For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, a parody of The Glass Menagerie (in this case, the owner of the "menagerie" is a son named Lawrence, and his collection consists of glass cocktail stirrers).

The New Yorker has called Durang "one of the funniest playwrights alive." See if you agree during the run of Durang, Durang! May 14-30. For tickets, call 772-5862.