On A Stool At The End Of A Bar

What a show. It was amazing. I had no idea what to expect and I was so surprised at the turn of events. And I guess that was the point. To me, it became even more controversial when I found out that this was written 30 years ago. It wasn’t something that was written in retrospect. It was written in the time that it was taking place, the 1980s, which I believe was very brave. Also, it was only over the course of two days… It felt much longer probably because it was so heavy.

The show really provoked many emotions within me. At the beginning before anything was revealed I thought, “what a cute little family!” They’re all so happy. Then, Tony’s reaction when he found out about Chris really upset me. He loved her for 8 years. However, I do agree that she should have told him from the beginning; it’s not a small detail of her life.

I really didn’t like that the priest was trying to convince Tony that he was gay, or bisexual. But that just showed that religion doesn’t accept people for who they believe they are. He didn’t accept that Chris was a woman, and believed that Tony didn’t know that Chris is trans. It made me feel that religion is so strict and has no room for interpretation.

The part that captured me the most, though, was when Joey confronted his father about it all. The father-son interaction in that scene was so emotional. Plus, they were really good actors. I really felt Tony’s struggle between setting his son straight to be respectful (and trying to make him believe the truth) and loving him so to not to hurt the family more. When Joey yelled at his dad that final time before he left, it was as if he was punching the tears out of me. He left me as stunned as Tony was.

The fact that the stage and the actors were so close that I could just whisper to them from my seat really made me feel like I was experiencing it all with them. At the start I felt a little awkward, as if I was intruding because we were so close, but then I didnt even notice anymore and I was just captivated by the show. It made it feel more personal.