The End of Longing

Production history

The End of Longing is written by former Friends actor Matthew Perry, in his playwriting debut. Perry wrote the first draft of the play over a period of ten days, with rewrites taking a further year. A reading of the play was held in New York City in December 2015. Set in a bar in downtown Los Angeles, the play centres around four people in their forties who are searching for the meaning of life. The characters are described by Perry as a "a drunk, a prostitute, a woman who's extremely neurotic and addicted to antidepressants, and a simpleton". Perry plays the drunk Jack and stated the role was "sort of an exaggerated form of myself" but added it was not an autobiographical part.

On 4 December 2015, it was announced that the play would receive its world premiere at the West End's Playhouse Theatre on 11 February 2016, following previews from 2 February, for a limited run until 14 May. The play reunites Perry with director Lindsay Posner, who he previously worked with on the play Sexual Perversity in Chicago in 2003. Casting for the production includes Perry as Jack, Lloyd Owen as Joseph, Jennifer Mudge as Stephanie and Christina Cole as Stevie. The play is directed by Lindsay Posner, with choreography by Darren Carnall, fight direction by Terry King, design by Anna Fleischle, lighting design by Lucy Carter and composition and sound design by Isobel Waller-Bridge.

Rehearsals for the play began in January, meaning Perry could not appear in person at the Friends reunion, which was put together as a tribute to the show's creator James Burrows. Speaking about the transition from actor to writer Perry said that "Being on stage makes you feel naked. Being on stage in a play that I have written will make me feel doubly naked.