New play, one-act and staged reading festivals have been springing up all over the place in recent years – beginning in earnest, if memory serves me correctly, with the Heartland Theatre Company's much lauded efforts in the 1990s. Such events offer emerging and established playwrights an opportunity to workshop their latest scripts, while theater executives are given a chance to test a script in front of a live audience with a quick and cheaply produced production. And theatergoers are treated to a wide variety of points of view all in one sitting.
So it's a win-win situation for everyone involved.
This month sees the return of the Gay Play Series at Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre – bigger and longer than last year's inaugural effort. Several events are part of the festival, but the heart and soul is its One-Act Festival, featuring nine new plays split into two separate blocks of shows. Audiences are asked to vote for their favorite play, and the winning production will be given a special encore performance Monday, June 27 at 8 p.m. It will also receive a full production at The Ringwald during its 2011-2012 season.
That's a pretty good prize, don't you agree?
Because of the separate blocks of plays, we've split reviewing duties among myself (Block A) and Michael Margolin (Block B); Margolin's review can be found separately.
And now on to a look at the festival's Block A productions!
Our Little Lezzie
One of the hardest decisions a young gay man or lesbian must make is whether or not – or when – to come out to their parents. It's a frightening process all of us struggle with, and most of us expect the worst. "How will they react," we ask ourselves. "Will they still love me?"
Missy (Zee Bricker) has decided it's finally time to "have the talk" with her parents, Shirley (Samantha Rosentrater) and Arthur (Peter Jacokes). So she invites them to her home, asks them to sit down, and then reveals to them her secret. Their reaction is NOT what she expected.
Without giving too much away, Allison Fradkin's script is a cute twist on the "coming out" story that makes one wonder: Is there such a thing as TOO much support from your parents?
Director Joe Plambeck keeps the pacing brisk, and his actors are quick to breathe life into their characters. (Rosentrater, who recently graduated from Wayne State's Hilberry program with an M.F.A. and a broken ankle, and Jacokes, a familiar comedic face in the improv community, are delightful together.) The result is a funny, farcical start to Block A of the Gay Play Series.
Reluctant Hero
Matt Heftler's script is another "coming out" story, but ripped from headlines circa 1975. Decorated US Marine and Vietnam veteran Oliver "Billy" Sipple was in the crowd during a visit to San Francisco by then-President Gerald Ford. When Sara Jane Moore raised her arm and pointed a gun at the president, Sipple lunged at her and deflected her aim, just as the she pulled the trigger. Ford was saved, but the bullet hit (but did not kill) a local taxi driver. Sipple, a Detroit native, became a national hero. But he was disowned by his family when his sexual orientation was leaked to the media.
While all of the above is true, Heftler's story imagines the late-night conversation Sipple had with his friend and fellow activist (and later, political leader) Harvey Milk, who was rumored to be the source of the leak. There's not a single wasted line in the script, which digs into two passionate views of outing held by members of the gay rights movement: a person's right to privacy and the movement's need to "break the stereotypes of homosexuals."
Director Leah Smith explores the story's emotional beats with actors Eric Maher as Harvey and Patrick O'Connor Cronin as Billy. It's always a pleasure to watch these fine actors work their magic on stage, and that holds true here. Maher's accent was the first clue he was portraying Milk – there are no last names used in the script – and he maintains it faithfully throughout the performance. And Cronin is fully believable as a man whose life has just crumbled as the result of an action by someone he trusted.
My Cup Bearer Runneth Off
It's not often you get to see the Joes – Joe Bailey and Joe Plambeck – on stage together. So here's your chance – and you'll laugh hard and laugh often, all the while almost feeling sorry for Jamie Richards who mostly stands and reacts to the whirling Joes around him.
Gary (Plambeck) is in the middle of a job interview (with Richards) when in storms Zeus (Bailey), the ancient Greek god. Gary, you see, is actually Ganymede, the "cupbearer to the gods" who has tired of Zeus' empty promises and fled to Earth. Zeus wants his young servant back, but what will it take for that to happen? If anything?
If playwright Ron Morelli didn't write the script with the two Joes in mind, I'd be surprised, as the delightful story's humor is right up their alley. And director Michael Reeves doesn't stand in their way. It might not be Bailey in a dress, but Bailey in a toga (and wig) is pretty much the same thing, and the actor has great fun riding the god's emotional roller coaster. And like a good tennis match, Plambeck returns each serve with equal aplomb!
Love, Liza
After a brief intermission, Block A resumes with yet another tour-de-force, this time for actor Richard Payton. In this script by Anson Mount, Payton plays Sam, one-half of a married gay couple, whose Canadian partner (a Liza impersonator) faces deportation. Sitting in the office of Immigration Agent Williamson (Sean McGettigan), Sam's mind races: Why was he called in? Didn't he provide all the requested information? Is the agent a closeted gay man? Is the room bugged?
In the grand tradition of a Looney Tunes cartoon, director Mark Sobolewski has Payton bounce around the stage, maniacally morphing from one absurd notion to the next. And silently watching it unfold before him, rarely blinking and never expressing any emotion whatsoever, is McGettigan. It's almost the tougher of the two roles, as it can't be easy to look Payton in the eye amidst his madness and not react.
Although the ending seems somewhat anti-climactic, further contemplation reveals otherwise; it's the NATURAL ending, despite what some might desire.
What Happened When
The final one-act is the most serious. But for me, not the most satisfying.
Playwright Daniel Talbott explores the family life of two brothers, reunited after an indeterminate time following the death of their father. Dear ol' dad sexually abused his sons (Vince Kelley and Matthew Turner Shelton), and each has dealt with it in different ways.
While Talbott packs a lot of information into his short tale, much is missing – as if what is presented was pulled from a much larger script, and we've come in to the story at some point in the middle. How old are the brothers? And what is their age difference? Certain dialogue leads one to believe the brothers are young adults, but Kelley's dialogue delivery and body language place him as an early teenager. (And Kelley's physique doesn't match his portrayal, either, although I suspect most in the audience won't mind seeing him in his boxers.)
Then there's the question surrounding their father's death. Was it accidental? Or did Shelton's character – played with believable intensity – have a hand in it? The script skips over the details.
There's much that's riveting in Talbott's script. But it feels like a story not fully told – and I, for one, would love to learn more about the brothers' lives.
For a complete schedule of GPS events, log on to http://www.encoremichigan.com/article.html?article=4719
REVIEW:
'Gay Play Series: Block A'
Who Wants Cake? at The Ringwald, 22742 Woodward Ave., Ferndale. Block A performs at 8 p.m. Friday, June 24 and 1 p.m. Sunday, June 26. Block B performs at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 25 and 5 p.m. Sunday, June 26; the winning production will be given a special encore performance at 8 p.m. Monday, June 27. $10 per event; $30 pass. 248-545-5545. http://www.whowantscaketheatre.com.
