There's nothing like an everyday story of a plain suburban family, and this is nothing like an everyday (etc.). A Nazi nymphomaniac nanny, a formative experience under a bus, bedtime stories from Mommie Dearest... no wonder Mr & Mrs Dingleberry's little boy Daisy grows up with problems. Quite apart from the business of gender. The result is a neurotic, transvestite satyr who spends days on end disguised as a pile of laundry. Durang is grand master of thoroughly sick black comedy (cheek out his Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You). Acting Up's production is best described as cheap'n'cheerful: as limited as most am-dram outfits in terms of material resources, but resolutely unhammy – playing broadly without deserting the individual characters. A beaut of a play, and the company don't sell it short.
Written for City Limits magazine.
Copyright © Ian Shuttleworth; all rights reserved.
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