Halley Feiffer to Star in Her New Dark Comedy The Pain of My Belligerence

Playwrights Horizons will present the world premiere of Halley Feiffer's new dark comedy The Pain of My Belligerence, directed by Trip Cullman. Performances will run from March 29-May 12.

Across eight years and three Presidential elections, this play — Feiffer and Cullman's sixth collaboration — holds the fraught power dynamics of a relationship up against the country's current tug-of-war of regression and profound awakening regarding gender. Feiffer began writing the play in the lead-up to the 2016 election, as she noticed the number of men loudly decrying Trump's misogyny while simultaneously mirroring it. She explains, "I was very interested in the hypocrisy of self-identifying liberals, because I see that hypocrisy in myself too. It goes hand in hand with a lot of profound frustrations common in heterosexual romantic relationships, which I've experienced myself — particularly the corrosive effects of toxic masculinity on men and women alike."

In The Pain of My Belligerence, Feiffer plays the brilliant twentysomething Cat, a journalist at the top of her game: tack-sharp and ambitious, and rapidly establishing her place in the field. Cat meets the crass yet charismatic — and married — Guy, played by Hamish Linklater. The cast will also feature Vanessa Kai.

The creative team includes Mark Wendland (scenic designer), Paloma Young (costume designer), Ben Stanton (lighting designer), Elisheba Ittoop (original music and sound designer), and Katie Ailinger (production stage manager).

Feiffer's previous plays include Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow (which will be presented at MCC Theater this spring), I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City.