The Play's the Thing

What do we want from plays? Okay, that's a very broad question. After the first scene of Jordan Harrison's new play Log Cabin , during which the affluent gay characters gather in a fancy New York City apartment (that is no doubt owned, not rented) in 2012 to discuss getting married and...AIDS, I turned to my boyfriend and said, "yes, because gay people only talk about being gay." And that's all of these characters, gay, trans, and straight, talk about. (Well, there's some shoehorned race discussions as well, because that's another hot button issue right now so why not?) We don't know much about them other than they're gay, or trans, or only date trans men. The only other info we get about them is that they are wealthy. Because of course they are. These are gay people who are no longer dying of AIDS, who can now get married, have children, be at least somewhat accepted by and have a place in society, and of course, have trust funds and be succ...

Note to playwrights: keep the fourth wall up. I'm at a loss for words when it comes to Jordan Harrison's latest, The Amateurs. The play begins with a troupe of traveling players during the middle ages as they try to outrun the plague and survive. Oliver Butler's directs it broadly, like a sketch comedy, and the script, which is full of anachronisms,  is trying to be ironic for irony's sake. The players deal with more than just the plague; there's also homosexuality, unplanned pregnancy, and the desire to learn more about their roles in their biblical morality plays. There's not much plot, other than the death of one of the players, and there's certainly no conflict. Thirty minutes in I couldn't help but think, "where on earth is this going?" And then the fourth wall comes down. And a member of the cast, Michael Cyril Creighton, introduces himself as playwright Jordan Harrison (and then cheekily acknowledges that he is not in fact the Jord...