Gay?

[king_duncan]

Took the bus with James as we were leaving Playwrights' Group last night. I was telling him about the guy who wants to produce and direct The Wastes of Time, and how his Craigslist post was asking for plays that dealt with "Today's Gay Experience".
James said he didn't consider The Wastes of Time a Gay play, but a play about people who happen to

Comments

[ceebeegee]

Really? I thought I remembered the play dealing with issues and events that are specific to gay people, IIRC--didn't the older guy stop seeing the mother's friend because he was dying of AIDS?

[king_duncan]

Yes. I think he was trying to say that the themes are universal enough that straight people could enjoy it, too...? I feel like I should be vaguley offended.

[ceebeegee]

Just 'cause something deals with identity-specific issues (ethnic, gender, whatever) doesn't mean it's a ghetto play. In the Heights, notwithstanding its subject and bilingual execution, is very universal. The theme is what's important, and WoT's theme is about generational reconciliation with the past.

[darksheik]

That play is sooo ghey.

I would say if an author goes out of their way to write characters who are gay, and it has a direct influence on the plot, there's some kind of "gay agenda" there. It will flip a switch to "gay" in most people's minds for better or for worse; some will be able to handle it, others will run.

But there's that Ebert quote I like to throw around, "It's not what a [show]'s about, but how it's about it..."