Brenda Withers | |
---|---|
Occupation | Playwright, stage actress |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Dartmouth College |
Genre | Comedy |
Notable works | Matt & Ben |
Brenda Withers is an American playwright and actress. Withers grew up on Long Island, New York, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 2000. [1] She is close friends with Mindy Kaling, whom she met when they were both attending Dartmouth. In 2001, Withers and Kaling co-wrote the play Matt & Ben, a play in which Withers and Kaling star as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, respectively. The play debuted in 2002 at that year's New York International Fringe Festival, where it became a surprise hit and won the "Best in Fringe" award. [1] [2] [3] It began an Off Broadway run in 2003, which led to it receiving multiple favorable reviews, including from the New Yorker . [4] In one of the show's Off Broadway productions, in a scene in which Kaling was supposed to fake a choreographed punch to Withers's face, Kaling accidentally punched Withers so hard that she broke her nose and she had to go to the hospital. After an intermission, the play continued. [3] [5] In 2006, Withers appeared in the "Booze Cruise" episode of The Office . [3]
She has also acted in stage productions of Crimes of the Heart, The Philadelphia Story, and Abundance. [6] In 2011, her play The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal? premiered at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, where she was a company member and playwright at the time. [1] [7] She later co-founded the Harbor Stage Company, a theater in Wellfleet, Massachusetts which she helps to run. In 2016, her play The Kritik premiered there. [8] [9]