A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE

The Perfect Party

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  3w, 2m

A.R. Gurney

This unique, brilliantly conceived and very funny play explores the hilarious crises encountered by an urbane college professor as he endeavors to scale the social heights by giving a truly “perfect party.”

The Perfect Party

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 2m

Details

Summary

Tony, a professor of American literature and quintessential WASP, concentrates on staging a party to end all parties. His aim appears to be, as a member of the WASP former ruling class, to teach America how to entertain properly. He has also invited a critic from a 'major New York newspaper' in the hope of getting a perfect review for the perfect party, but the critic announces that the evening lacks 'the essential element of danger'.

M2 (middle-age) F3 (middle-age)

  • Setting

    A study

Media

“…it is surely Mr. Gurney’s funniest, meanest and most theatrical play yet. What a pleasure it is to watch a veteran writer step out, at some risk, into the unexpected.” —The New York Times.

“…it does offer an evening in the theatre that is as close to perfection as…we are likely to get.” —New York Post.

“Mr. Gurney is one of our wittiest writers, his ear sharply attuned to fatuities, and he is almost always very funny when he tries to be.” —The New Yorker.

“As always in a Gurney journey, a real writer is at the wheel. The dialogue snaps and crackles with wickedly knowing observations…” —Variety.

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

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Authors

A.R. Gurney

A.R. Gurney
A.R. (“Pete”) Gurney was born in 1930 in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Williams College in 1952, served as an officer in the Navy, and afterwards attended the Yale School of Drama. For many years, he taught literature at M.I.T., but moved to New York in 1982 to devote ...
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