The Boys in the Band

Reviewed by Paula Citron

The Boys in the Band
Ghost Light Projects
Written by Mart Crowley
Directed by Randie Parliament
Featuring Matthew Romantini, Andy Ingram, Jonathan Morton-Schuster, Indrit Kaspi, John Bryans, Tawiah M’Carthy, Jordan Mechano, Antonio Olivito and Cole J. Alvis
Tallulah’s Cabaret, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Mar. 1 to 6, 2011

Ghost Light Projects is a new theatre initiative whose main bent seems to be modern classics with a social message. A case in point is Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band.

The play was first produced in 1968 and caused a sensation. While there had been other plays with gay or lesbian characters, The Boys in the Band was set in the heartland of a circle of homosexual friends.

Today when we hear Crowley’s characters talk about the baths, we cringe. Nonetheless there are some wonderfully bitchy one liners, such as calling a former ice skater a “frozen fruit”. Crowley covers the waterfront with every kind of gay personality, from the high camp queen to the conservative just out of the closet.

Director Randie Parliament did a great job using every nook and cranny of Tallulah’s Cabaret to deploy his large cast. The performances were uneven, but the young men all understood timing and irony, and a sense of the poignant.