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The Other Side of the Closet is a compelling,
thought-provoking, thoughtful account of a teenager trying to come to
terms with his sexual orientation, and the impact this has on his family,
friends, and school; and, in turn, the effects their reactions have on his
own ability to deal with this issue. Coming out, in all its phases, is
complicated, and this hour-long drama is uncompromising in its recognition
of that fact. The young protagonist Carl has to deal with, among other
things, not having any role models to help him understand his sexuality,
and a clear awareness that society at many levels (family, school,
religion, the world at large) is intolerant or openly hostile to
homosexuality. Generalized homophobia is still allowed to manifest itself
in America in ways that generalized racism or other forms of bigotry are
not: the play begins with Carl and two of his high-school buddies
indulging in some "fag-bashing"; the name-calling and stereotyping which
kids are regularly exposed to are faithfully reproduced here, but
reflected through Carl's not-at-all unique experience their
destructiveness is brought sharply into focus.
Playwright Edward Roy has written an overtly
educational work in The Other Side of the Closet, and director Mark
Cannistraro, who runs New York's Sourceworks Theatre, is planning to take
the piece to the City's high schools, which is a commendable goal. The
fact of this very particular (and important) mission means that The
Other Side of the Closet starts out somewhat formulaically, because
Roy has a great deal of information that he needs to impart quickly. Roy
needs to tell us about Carl's situation, first of all: he's a popular,
smart 16-year-old who is ordinary and "normal" to all appearances. When
Carl fails to turn up to watch videos with his friends one night, citing a
"family thing," no one thinks anything of it; but when his best friends
Rick and Justin spot him leaving a gay bar on Christopher Street, the
results are swift and catastrophic. In their eyes, Carl is suddenly a
stranger or perhaps even an alien, and even though Rick's more mature and
open-minded girlfriend Paulette tries to explain that, except for this one
thing, Carl is exactly the same person he always was, the boys are
resolute in their bigotry.
Word quickly spreads through the school and Carl
becomes a pariah. He is reluctant (afraid?) to tell his parents, and
indeed his father is generally unwilling to receive the news when Carl is
finally ready to talk to them. The school itself provides little in the
way of support. Only Paulette, who has a gay uncle, offers Carl genuine
understanding and counsel. So Carl, who is, above all else, sixteen years
old, has a real struggle ahead of him. What will happen to him is
deliberately left ambiguous by the playwright.
What's best about The Other Side of the Closet,
apart from the imperative urgency of its message of tolerance, is the way
that Roy piles up the complexities of its subject without providing us any
assurance of happy endings or pat answers. People's feelings about
homosexuality are wildly divergent, and Roy shows us lots of them: defiant
gays and repressed gays, indifferent straight guys and mixed-up straight
guys suffering from homosexual panic, supportive parents and ashamed
parents, apathetic "others" who wish the problem would go away and
supportive "others" who maybe go too far in preaching acceptance and pride.
The Other Side of the Closet certainly has an
agenda, but it's never preachy and it's absolutely not prejudicial: this
is a play that tells kids that it's okay to be what you are, but it's not
necessarily easy to do so. The people who most need to see this play are
almost certainly the ones who will be most rabidly opposed to its
presentation in schools. But The Other Side of the Closet is not a
"gay" play. Roy is a humanist, and his lessons of tolerance and acceptance
apply to any set of people who are different from their peers.
Director Cannistraro has staged the play with
forthrightness and conviction. He has cast it with five young actors whose
commitment is as inspiring and remarkable as their talent: Richard Tayloe
(Carl), Vincent Briguccia, Melissa Carroll, Charlene Gonzalez, and Willie
Mullins. The piece moves swiftly, drawing energy from its youthful setting
and the urgency of its themes.
The raw immediacy of theatre makes it the right place
for people to gather and confront issues like homophobia and try to solve
them. Bravo to Edward Roy and Mark Cannistraro and their excellent company
for tackling this important problem with so much courage and insight and
honesty. |
