George and Emil sit on a park bench overlooking a lake and talk about life, death and ducks!

Their spiky conversation touches on aging, 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) and Mark Shorto (Cygnet Associate), and is directed by Alistair Ganley, (Artistic Director of Exeter’s Cygnet Theatre).

DUCK VARIATIONS is the first production from Benchmark.

BENCHMARK is a new theatre company based in 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 high-quality, small-scale work for theatres and community venues around the South-West.

DUCK VARIATIONS is Benchmark’s inaugural production and begins a summer tour in June 2022