Duck Variations

George and Emil sit on a park bench overlooking a lake and talk about life, death and ducks! Their spiky conversation touches on ageing, power, politics, environment, philosophy, mortality, and Sure as shootin’!  … ducks!
Witty, playful, sometimes surreal, and occasionally poignant DUCK VARIATIONS is a delightfully combative hour of character led debate by Pulitzer Prize winning American playwright and provocateur, David Mamet (Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow)
This philosophical comedy features Exeter actors Mark Cassidy (Boo to a Goose Theatre) and Mark Shorto (EXE Ensemble), and is directed by Alistair Ganley,
BENCHMARK is a new theatre company formed from and supported by Cygnet Theatre in Friars Gate, Exeter. Founded by Mark Shorto, Mark Cassidy & Alistair Ganley as part of Cygnet’s Dream Festival 2022.
The company celebrates the wit and wisdom, as well as the challenges, of aging, and aims to create accessible, high-quality, small-scale work for theatres and community venues around the South-West UK.
DUCK VARIATIONS is Benchmark’s inaugural production and began a successful summer tour in June 2022, visiting Exeter, Bristol and Dulverton, Teignmouth and Crediton. 
See DUCK VARIATIONS press release