Matthew Perry, famous for playing Chandler Bing in the sitcom Friends, is returning to the West End stage next year after a 12 year absence. Perry will be starring in the world premiere of the new play The End Of Longing, which he wrote in just 10 days. The production reunites Perry with director Lindsay Posner, who first directed him in Sexual Perversity In Chicago, in 2013.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the 46 year old actor described the play as “a much darker thing than Friends was.” Billed as a bittersweet comedy, it features ‘a drunk, a prostitute, a woman who’s extremely neurotic and addicted to antidepressants, and a simpleton.’ Perry added that he will be playing the ‘drunk.’
“It’s sort of an exaggerated form of myself … but it’s not autobiographical at all,’ Perry confirmed. The actor has had several stints in rehab over the years, after becoming addicted to painkillers. In 2013, he received a Champion Of Recovery award from the White House for opening Perry House, a sober living home in Malibu, California.
In a video uploaded on Twitter, Perry declared that he’s “very excited about his comeback.”
The End Of Longing debuts at the Playhouse Theatre, London, on February 2, 2016 for a limited run. Further casting is to be announced.
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