Hurlyburly

play by Rabe

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July 16, 2026

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Hurlyburly is a play by American playwright David Rabe, first performed in 1985. It is described as a drama about disillusionment in Hollywood. The term "hurly-burly" itself means uproar or tumult. Rabe is known for his use of grotesque humor, satire, and surreal fantasy in his works, often drawing from his experiences in the Vietnam War. While Hurlyburly is one of his later plays, his earlier works like The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Streamers also explored themes of violence and societal issues.12

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David Rabe
…a go-go dancer in Philadelphia; Hurlyburly (1985; film 1998) and Those the River Keeps (1991), two related dramas about disillusionment in Hollywood; A Question of Mercy (1998); The Dog Problem (2002); The Black Monk (2004), based on a Chekhov short story; An Early History of Fire
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…a go-go dancer in Philadelphia; Hurlyburly (1985; film 1998) and Those the River Keeps (1991), two related dramas about disillusionment in Hollywood; A Question of Mercy (1998); The Dog Problem (2002); The Black Monk (2004), based on a Chekhov short story; An Early History of Fire
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Jerry Stiller
Stage, film, and television career
…Ritz (1975) and David Rabe’s Hurlyburly (1984). Among his other notable stage roles were Nathan Detroit in a 1983 production of Guys and Dolls at Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater and Dogberry in a star-studded Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in 1988.
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…Ritz (1975) and David Rabe’s Hurlyburly (1984). Among his other notable stage roles were Nathan Detroit in a 1983 production of Guys and Dolls at Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater and Dogberry in a star-studded Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in 1988.
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Sigourney Weaver
Theater
…Broadway credits include David Rabe’s Hurlyburly (1984), for which she received a Tony Award nomination, and Sex and Longing (1996) and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013), both written by Christopher Durang.
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…Broadway credits include David Rabe’s Hurlyburly (1984), for which she received a Tony Award nomination, and Sex and Longing (1996) and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013), both written by Christopher Durang.
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