Last Wednesday, I went to watch the Gay Marriage Plays at Minetta Lane Theater in Greenwich Village. All the seats were taken and this was really a fabulous show and it is another combination of art and politics.
This performance is not spectacular but very simple and humorous. Unlike other plays I watched before, Its setting is very simple or I could say that it has no setting at all but a few chairs and tables. Its humor is different from the humor of absurdity in the Bald Soprano; it uses more satires such as playing joke with some celebrities’ names and use of curse word. This performance’s success is all attributed to the acting of the cast and the playwright.
The first play “the Revision” by Jordan Harrison is about two guys who are revising the marriage statement. One man says that they should not call same sex marriage as marriage but call it civil union. I have never heard this phrase before and I wonder why people are laughing. I think they mention the civil union here to criticize, in a caustic way, those who oppose the usage of the word “marriage” by same sex couple.
I most like the fourth play “On Facebook” by Doug Wright. I think it is a very creative idea to present the comments on Facebook orally. It tights current hot issue with current popular communication tool closely. This play is about six people’s debate on same sex marriage that arise from a person’s post on Facebook. I think it is very funny when they say “smiley face” accompanied by their own smiley face and fingers representing “click move” after they comment. Eventually, this play ends with each person saying “log off”.
I think the aim of this play is to open people’s mind about same sex marriage and to let people understand more about the homosexual. They have not done anything wrong. They need understanding and respect. They are all normal human being who just can not help falling in love with the same sex.
Wikipedia explains civil unions pretty well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxYTexLE8YI… Basically everyone found it amusing because calling a marriage a civil union defeats the purpose of fighting for gay marriage. They want equality in every respect, and if a civil union gives them “the same rights” as married same-sex couples, then why call it a civil union at all? The answer is that Civil Unions don’t have the same rights as married couples, and proposing a solution such as “civil unions” to the question of gay marriage is no solution at all. The inequality continues, despite claims that calling it a civil union only preserves the “title” of marriage. Quite a controversial subject was touched upon with one simple statement, and unless you have been following this issue for some time, it’s no wonder you were confused. Chances are though, most people who attended this play have been following the issues, and thats why the audience responded to the joke so well.
I think it’s interesting that they presented a play which talked about same-sex marriages being called “Civil Unions”. However, what I find really fascinating is the whole Facebook concept. It shows how much information and discussion can span from someone’s status. Personally, I can count a few times where something I said turned into something major, both in a positive direction and a negative one. Everyone is so in tune with what is happening in their friends lives that they sort of forget what is happening in the “outside” world, well unless its posted on Facebook of course! Admittedly I am one of those people who is so caught up in the Facebook world that I forget what is happening globally. Shame on me.