Joel Sass will direct "The Birthday Party."

The Jungle Theater will switch plays in April. The Minneapolis company will mount "The Birthday Party" instead of "The Pain and the Itch." The dates are the same, April 6-May 13.

Artistic director Bain Boehlke said the change was made because of scheduling conflicts with cast members. He said the Jungle plans to produce "The Pain and Itch" in "an upcoming season."

Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party" is an iconic dark and menacing comedy. Joel Sass will direct a cast of Stephen Cartmell, Katie Guentzel, Richard Ooms, Tony Pappenfus, Marty Ruben and Claudia Wilkens.

Pinter's 1958 play centers on a tumultuous day when two strangers confront a man living in a boarding house — on what is alleged to be the man's birthday. The play is a classic work of subtext, words meaning less than what they imply.

"The Pain and Itch" is a newer work by playwright Bruce Norris. It is described as a "scathing satire of the politics of class and race." Sass had also intended to direct that play and in a statement released by the Jungle, he said he finds in the work "energies are so relevant to our current world climate."

Tickets, dates and times, location, all that, are the same for "The Birthday Party" as they were for "The Pain and the Itch."

www.jungletheater.com