Three one-acts by playwright and master of parody Christopher Durang will be presented as part of the annual Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festival beginning August 29, 2008 in Philadelphia. The 65-minute show entitled A Streetcar Named Durang: Two Burlesques and a Nightmare, will be presented by The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, the Philadelphia-based theater company whose mission is to present classic absurdist theater to audiences in the Philadelphia region.

A Streetcar Named Durang: Two Burlesques and a Nightmare includes three short one-acts -- Desire, Desire, Desire, A Stye of the Eye, and The Actor's Nightmare, written by the man New York Times critic Ben Brantley described as ".one of our funniest playwrights."

The disturbingly gleeful Desire, Desire, Desire, is an affectionate send-up of Tennessee Williams favorites A Streetcar Named Desire and A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with bits and pieces of Marsha Norman's 'night Mother and David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross thrown in for good measure. Giddy parody A Stye of the Eye is based on Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, the New York Drama Critics Award for Best Play of the Year in 1985-1986. This hilarious homage to the poetic world out west includes references to Shepard's Fool for Love and Curse of the Starving Class, John Pielmeier's Agnes of God and David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross. In The Actor's Nightmare, accountant George Spelvin finds himself playing roles in plays he hasn't rehearsed from Hamlet to Samuel Beckett's Happy Days and takes a darker turn when George finds himself at the end of A Man for All Seasons, with everyone around determined to literally have his head.

L'Étage Cabaret, the intimate 50-seat theater above Beau Monde Creperie at 6th and Bainbridge Streets in Philadelphia will host A Streetcar Named Durang. L'Etage has served as the company's venue since its inception in 2006; L'Etage's atmosphere and ambiance evoke the spirit of Paris in the '50's and '60's, where absurdist playwrights Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett's work was first performed.

A Streetcar Named Durang features Philadelphia-based actors Chris Fluck, Gerre Garrett, Betsy Herbert, Laurie Norton, Bob Schmidt, Mark Schroeder, RJ White and Tina Brock; Streetcar is directed by Tina Brock, the IRC's Artistic Director.

A Streetcar Named Durang will have six performances at L'Étage Cabaret: Tuesday, September 2, Wednesday, September 3, Thursday, September 4; Sunday, September 7; Tuesday, September 9, 2007, and Wednesday, September 10. Curtain is 7:30 pm for all shows; doors open 30 minutes prior. Tickets are $15.00. Seating is very limited, reservations are recommended.

More information and photos for A Streetcar Named Durang: Two Burlesques and a Nightmare, The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, and the many companies participating in the Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival can be found at www.livearts-fringe.org or 215.413.1318. Information on the IRC can be found at www.idiopathicridiculopathyconsortium.com.

This year's festival begins August 29 and runs through September 13.