Tony-Winning Playwright Christopher Durang Diagnosed With Aphasia
(© David Gordon)
Tony-winning playwright Christopher Durang has been diagnosed with aphasia, according to a report from Broadway News.
According to the publication, which spoke to Durang's husband, John Augustine, Durang's illness was officially diagnosed in 2016 after first becoming apparent in 2012. The exact diagnosis is logopenic primary progressive aphasia, which manifests in the difficulty of finding and understanding words and following long sentences.
Augustine states that Durang's long-term memory remains intact and that he is in otherwise good health, with movement and decision-making skills unaffected. However, his condition has worsened with time. His most recent projects include the 2018 play Turning Off the Morning News, which premiered at the McCarter; the book to Wendy Wasserstein's musical Pamela's First Musical, which also ran in 2018 at Two River Theater, and the thus far unproduced Harriet and Other Horrible People.
Durang, 73, is best known for plays like The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, and the Tony-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, among many others.
