The wife in the San Diego production was played by an African American actor. I didn’t particularly see it as a comment one way or another. She did a fine job.
As did the rest of the cast. I count myself in the group of gay men for whom drag is not an attraction, but I found myself having a good time.
My comment was about the play, which was a fair amount different from the other two Matthew Lopez plays I’ve seen, “The Whipping Man” and “Somewhere.” The reason I saw it as a throwback is that I’ve observed that, historically, there has been something of a formula for writing plays aimed at gay men and part of the formula was that there would be some male “skin” shown at some point. While the lead took off his shirt multiple times in the San Diego production it was clear that he was not gay nor was doing so explicitly to titillate gay male viewers. I concluded that the play may have been aimed more at a straight audience (and, indeed, the audience at the performance I attended was heavy with women, due to a pre-show “women’s night” promotion).
I’m sorry if my comments came off as harsh. I actually liked the show and am glad that it is being produced regionally.
Bill, in San Diego |
