Review Fix Exclusive: Richard Curtis Talks ‘Quiet Enjoyment’

Review Fix chats with playwright Richard Curtis, who discusses their newest production, “Quiet Enjoyment.”

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About the Production:

Who will survive The Closing? As the clock runs down, desperation rises for the harried junior manager trying to seal her first deal, the out-of-touch avuncular attorney, the smug type-A seller with both the ex-wife and yoga instructor girlfriend in attendance, the papers fly and the temperature rises. A can’t-miss farce that brings out the uncooperative in co-op.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project? 

Richard Curtis: A crazy incident at my own closing sparked the idea.  Since then I have heard horror stories from dozens of buyers and sellers. 

Review Fix: What is your creative process?  

Curtis: I need to know how a play will end and what statement I want the ending to make (political, spiritual, etc) Then I create characters to represent that statement.  But then the characters take over and push back, and half the time the play goes in a completely different direction. Whenever I get blocked I realize it’s because a character of mine is protesting about being made to behave out of character. 

I start every day’s session from page 1, adding a few lines like dropping butter into dough and rolling it thinner and thinner and thinner. 


Review Fix: What did you learn/are learning about yourself through this process? 

Curtis: Thanks to my amazing director Marcus Gualberto I’ve learned that while my play may be funny in two dimensions (words on paper), the director makes it funny in three dimension (actors on stage) plus a fourth one, time, or rather timing.  In a comedy, timing is almost everything.


Review Fix: Tell me about the cast. What makes them special? 

Curtis: They bonded at once over the script, and they have since bonded with each other.  Even when they’re not rehearsing they address each other by the names of their characters.  They have inhabited their roles, and are reacting to one another theatrically, not just socially.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this piece for the future?

Curtis: Every New Yorker is involved in real estate whether they realize it or not.  So let’s get them into the theater and make Quiet Enjoyment a permanent fixture in the Big Apple. 

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone see this production?

Curtis: There’s so much depression in the world, I just want to make people laugh.  Quiet Enjoyment is a combination of farce and drawing room comedy  – witty repartee, Gilbert & Sullivan nonsense, and Punch and Judy pratfalls.

Review Fix: What’s next ? 

Curtis: Vauthor – a satire on branding.  Marketers take a shlubby, schnooky author and make him a media rock star.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Curtis: Laughter is alive and well at the Playroom Theater.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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