Gay-play archetypes, universal truths

If five gay men convene in a Manhattan apartment, are they automatically in a gay play?

Perhaps. A handful of friends and acquaintances watching New York City's annual Pride March from the home of attorney Tom (Austin Farwell) and his partner, schoolteacher Michael (Rob MacGregor), are certainly amused by parallels between their momentary gathering and such well-known, gay ensemble pieces as "Love! Valour! Compassion!"

In fact, the original working title of Jonathan Tolins' "The Last Sunday in June," first staged Off Broadway in 2003 and currently a Repertory Actors (ReAct) Theatre production in Seattle, was "Another Gay Play."

Tolins' intentionally self-conscious joke about characters weighing their attitudes, actions and even dramatic stereotypes against other characters from other plays — especially those that have emerged during the mainstreaming of gay culture — is funny.

But it's also reflective. Life is hard enough facing occasional, existential assessments of one's authenticity. Add to that nagging questions about being out of plumb with some standard of gay self-acceptance, and Tolins' characters ruminate, to varying degrees, about which box each of them fits into.

Tom and Michael, for example, are preparing to leave the city for a house in the suburbs. (Both are in their early 30s.) They wonder: Does middle-class assimilation make them "post-gay"? Then there's Tom's young friend, Joe (Marc delaCruz), 20-something, blissful, in his dating prime. He's sensitive to the self-doubt of older gay men, but he's unwilling to stifle his joie de vivre out of empathy.

Brad (ShawnJ West), in his 40s and HIV positive, is incurably sassy, confident and doesn't suffer hypocrisy. That's great, but he's also resigned to being an aging party animal.

Theater review


"The Last Sunday in June," by Jonathan Tolins, Thursdays-Sundays

through July 2, Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S.,

Seattle; $9-$15 (206-364-3283 or www.reacttheatre.org).

And Charles (Dennis Kleinsmith), in his 50s and a veteran of the post-Stonewall, gay-liberation years, was once defined by the struggle. Now he's defined by middle age. He's seen it all and is the character most inclined to find parallels between present company and predictability in gay plays.

One predictable type — the self-loathing gay intellectual — appears as James (Tad Shafer), Tom's former lover and a failed author who makes a shocking announcement: He's marrying a straight woman. His reasons are complex, though beneath it all is exhaustion with trying to fit into his skin while options for gays remain narrow.

Charles and others denounce James, then try to convince his bride-to-be, Susan (Angela DiMarco), that she is embracing her own uncomfortable, asexual stereotype.

Though she is not fully persuasive, her argument for palliative companionship seems grand in its own way.

Then again, perhaps a true totem for the future of gay men is hunky, shirtless Scott (Jadd Davis), a youthful Adonis who turns out to be the most balanced fellow in the story.

In any case, Tolins suggests that perhaps it's OK to put every possibility on the table, especially since Tom and Michael's all-the-marbles, suburban dream seems fragile; they are not exemplars, but human beings, capable of mistakes.

Illuminating performances, serrated dialogue, vigorous scene development, an aversion to bathos and an absorbing pace set by director David Hsieh make "The Last Sunday in June" a thoughtful experience.

As someone says, gay plays often end with a dance. Not this one.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com