Matthew Perry is ready for new challenges鈥攕tarting with his playwriting debut. The premise of his play, The End of Longing, sounds a little like the beginning of a good joke: 鈥淎n alcoholic, an escort, a self-diagnosed neurotic, and a well-intentioned dimwit walk into a bar.鈥� But Perry鈥檚 bittersweet comedy knows how to throw a punch鈥攆or his playwriting debut, the former sitcom star is willing to go to some dark places.
The End of Longing received its world premiere in the West End last year鈥攚here it broke box office records at the Playhouse Theatre鈥攁nd arrives Off-Broadway this spring in a revamped production from MCC Theater. It鈥檚 the story of four deeply flawed strangers whose lives become irreversibly intertwined. At the center of the play is Jack, an alcoholic. Perry, who himself is an outspoken addiction recovery advocate, starred as Jack in the London production, and returns to play the role in New York.
To purchase tickets to The End of Longing .
Perry says that he was inspired to write The End of Longing by the idea that 鈥減eople can change鈥濃攕pecifically, that 鈥渂roken people can turn into better people.鈥� 鈥淚鈥檝e experienced a lot of changes in my life and I see people change every day,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a common notion that people can鈥檛 change. I disagree with that.鈥�
Perry, who had previously written for television, says that he didn鈥檛 necessarily set out to write a play; it just happened organically. 鈥淚 sat at my computer and started writing. I didn鈥檛 know what [was going to come out],鈥� he says. 鈥淚 realized I was writing a play, and didn鈥檛 stop until I was finished.鈥�
Writing The End of Longing was a therapeutic process. Like most playwrights, Perry poured a lot of himself into the story. 鈥淎ll of the characters are a little bit of me, or an exaggerated version of me,鈥� he admits. Does that make him feel exposed?
鈥淚 feel more vulnerable as a playwright,鈥� says Perry, who has swapped the 鈥渁ctor dream鈥濃攊n which you find yourself naked onstage鈥攆or the 鈥減laywright鈥檚 nightmare,鈥� in which the actors mess up all of his lines. 鈥淢y words are out there, and they鈥檙e so close to my heart.鈥�
But it鈥檚 a welcome challenge for Perry, who says you鈥檙e not likely to see him popping up again in any sitcoms any time soon.
鈥淚 was solely an actor for the first half of my life. Now writing is something that really interests me,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about challenging yourself and doing things that are foreign. Work that makes me use my brain.鈥�
It鈥檚 about people changing.
