Burn This (stylized as Burn/This for the 2019 revival) is a play by Lanford Wilson. Like much of Wilson's work, the play includes themes of gay identity and relationships.
Plot summary
The play begins shortly after the funeral of Robbie, a young, gay dancer who drowned in a boating accident with his lover Dom. In attendance were Robbie's roommates: his sensitive dance partner and choreographer, Anna, and confident, gay advertising executive Larry. Soon joining them in Robbie's lower Manhattan loft are screenwriter Burton (Anna's longtime lover) and Pale (Robbie's cocaine-snorting, hyperactive restaurant manager brother). In the face of their shared tragedy, the quartet attempts to make sense of their lives and reconsider their own identities and relationships. Anna learns to be independent and self-confident. She begins to pursue her interest in choreography and begins a relationship with Pale, ending her dispassionate relationship with her longtime boyfriend.[1]
The play transferred to Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre, opening on October 14, 1987 and closing on October 29, 1988 after 437 performances and seven previews. Again directed by Mason, the original cast appeared in the Broadway production.[6][7] Over the course of the production, replacements and understudies included Lisa Emery, Scott Glenn, Lonny Price, and Eric Roberts.[8][9]
A Broadway revival of Burn This was announced to begin in February 2017 and open on March 6, 2017 at the re-opened Hudson Theatre. Jake Gyllenhaal was to star, with direction by Michael Mayer.[13] On October 21, 2016, it was announced that the production was postponed until the 2017-18 season due to scheduling conflicts with Gyllenhaal.[14]
A revival opened on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on March 15, 2019 in previews with the official opening on April 16. The cast featured Adam Driver as Pale, Keri Russell as Anna, David Furr as Burton and Brandon Uranowitz as Larry, with direction by Michael Mayer.[15][16][17] The production closed on July 14, 2019.[18]
^Jacobi, Martin J. "'The Monster Within' in Lanford Wilson's Burn This" in Lanford Wilson: A Casebook, Jackson R. Bryer (ed.) Garland Publishing, Inc.: New York, 1994, 131-149.
