Arts & Entertainment
Flocking together
Gay playwright explores celebrated bird pairings
‘Birds of a Feather’
Through Aug. 7
The Hub Theatre @
The New School
9431 Silver King Court, Fairfax
703-674-3177
From left, Matt Dewberry, Jjana Valentiner, playwright Marc Acito, director Shirley Serotsky, Dan Crane and Eric Messner. (Photo by C. Stanley Photography; courtesy of Hub Theatre)
Much of gay writer Marc Acito’s work is ripped from the headlines. This applies to his National Public Radio commentaries, and it’s also true about his funny new play “Birds of a Feather” now making its world premiere at the Hub Theatre in Fairfax.
Inspired by two Manhattan stories that got a lot of press about seven years ago, the comedy focuses on gay penguins that fall in love and hatch an egg in the Central Park Zoo, and a messy-but-devoted pair of straight hawks who famously make their home high atop a tony Fifth Avenue co-op. Acito explores what he imagines to be the birds’ motivations as well as the ways in which humans react to these two feathered families.
“What most interested me about the bird stories,” says Acito by phone from his home in New York, “is that both elicited such a huge response from the public. There was a lot of anthropomorphizing going on — the hawk Pale Male was praised as a good father, and the co-op was accused of attempting to unjustly evict a lovely family. The hetero normative hawks were pretty much unanimously supported.”
On the other hand, says Acito, 45, the longtime pair-bonded male penguins Silo and Roy who together hatched an abandoned egg weren’t entirely celebrated. In fact, an award winning children’s book about the penguins’ nontraditional family “And Tango Makes Three” ranks as one of America’s most controversial books, and has been challenged or banned in numerous libraries and school districts.
When “Birds of a Feather” was first read two summers ago at JAW Playwright’s Festival in Portland, (Acito’s home from around 1990 until last year), Hub Theatre artistic director Helen Pafumi contacted Acito. She was eager to mount the show in Fairfax. “There had been controversy about the children’s book in neighboring Loudon County, and Helen thought my play was relevant to the community. Part of Hub’s mission is to facilitate conversation among different factions who live side by side.”
“Hub is a real gem waiting to be discovered,” Acito says. “I realize it might be a little out of way, but I’m hoping gay theatergoers will be willing to make the trek out of curiosity. They can attend a matinee and be back in town for happy hour. If nothing else I know my audiences.”
Staged by Shirley Serotsky, “Birds of a Feather” features a talented quartet who play the penguin and hawk couples (the aptly named Dan Crane and Matt Dewberry), a female zookeeper (Jjana Valentiner) whose best friend is gay man, a birder (Eric Messner), as well as myriad other characters including Mary Tyler Moore, Paula Zahn and a bevy of Catholic school girls.
“All the facts of the play are true, but of course I fictionalize what the birds are thinking,” Acito says. “I certainly feel qualified to write about relationships. My partner and I have been together for 25 years. And while gay relationships are unique in many ways, the fundamentals of living with a partner are the same for everyone.”
Growing up in New Jersey, Acito starred in high school musicals. He describes himself as the guy darting about in Capezio dance shoes and leg warmers. Later he dropped out of Carnegie Mellon’s drama program due to “artistic differences.”
“I thought I could act. They didn’t,” he says.
After more study, he began a professional opera career: “I played character parts — drunks and hunchbacks mostly. It was fun and I learned a lot about comedy and western history, but for me opera was a shoe that never really fit. Ultimately I decided that I needed to create art rather than recreate it onstage, so I began writing.”
He started with the gay press. Next he wrote “How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater,” a cult novel about theater people. A successful sequel followed. When the bottom fell out of publishing, he returned to theater and relocated to New York, but this time as a writer. Currently he’s collaborating with composer Jeffrey Stock on a musical adaptation of E.M. Forster’s classic “A Room with a View” slated to premiere at the Old Globe in San Diego next spring. Buzz is good.
Today Acito is thrilled to have found new meaning in his life and career. “There’s an audience that understands my message and aesthetic, and they’re very much in the theater. This time, I feel that I’ve found the shoe that really fits.”
Theater
‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’
Studio production takes place during after-school detention
‘Exception to the Rule’
Through Sunday, October 27
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
$40-$95
Studiotheatre.org
After-school detention is a bore, but it’s especially tiresome on the last day of classes before a holiday.
In Dave Harris’s provocative new play “Exception to the Rule” (now at Studio Theatre) that’s just the case.
It’s Friday, and the usual suspects are reporting to room 111 for detention before enjoying the long MLK weekend. First on the scene are blaring “bad girl” Mikayla (Khalia Muhammad) and nerdy stoner Tommy (Stephen Taylor Jr.), followed by mercurial player Dayrin (Jacques Jean-Mary), kind Dasani (Shana Lee Hill), and unreadable Abdul (Khouri St.Surin).
The familiar is jaw-droppingly altered by the entrance of “College Bound Erika” (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer), a detention first timer whose bookworm presence elicits jokes from the others: What happened? You fail a test?
Dasani (who’s teased for being named for designer water) dubs Erika “Sweet Pea” and welcomes her to the rule-breaking fold. Together the regulars explain how detention works: The moderator, Mr. Bernie, shows up, signs their slips, and then they go. But today the teacher is tardy.
As they wait, the kids pass the time laughing, trash talking, flirting, and yelling. When not bouncing around the classroom, Dayrin is grooming his hair, while Dasani endlessly reapplies blush and lip gloss. At one point two boys almost come to blows, nearly repeating the cafeteria brawl that landed them in detention in the first place.
It’s loud. It’s confrontational. And it’s funny.
Erika is naively perplexed: “I thought detention was quiet. A place where everyone remembers the mistakes that got them here and then learns how to not make the same mistakes again.”
For room 111, the only connection to the outside world is an increasingly glitchy and creepy intercom system. Announcements (bus passes, the school’s dismal ranking, the impending weekend lockdown, etc.) are spoken by the unseen but unmistakably stentorian-voiced Craig Wallace.
Dave Harris first conceived “Exception to the Rule” in 2014 during his junior year at Yale University. In the program notes, the Black playwright describes “Exception to the Rule” as “a single set / six actors on a stage, just acting their asses off.” It’s true, and they do it well.
Miranda Haymon is reprising their role as director (they finely helmed the play’s 2022 off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York). Haymon orchestrates a natural feel to movement in the classroom, and without entirely stilling the action on stage (makeup applying, scribbling, etc.), the out director gives each member of the terrific cast their revelatory moment. In a busy room, we learn that Tommy’s goofiness belies trauma, that Mikayla is admirably resourceful, and most startling, why Erika, the school’s top student, is in detention.
Mr. Bernie is clearly a no-show. And despite his absence, the regulars are bizarrely loath to leave the confines of 111 for fear of catching yet another detention. Of course, it’s emblematic of something bigger. Still, things happen within the room.
While initially treated as a sort of mascot, awkwardly quiet Erika becomes rather direct in her questions and observations. Suddenly, she’s rather stiffly doling out unsolicited advice.
It’s as if an entirely new person has been thrown into the mix.
Not all of her guidance goes unheeded. Take fighting for instance. At Erika’s suggestion, St.Surin’s Abdul refrains from kicking Dayrin’s ass. (Just feet from the audience gathered for a recent matinee in Studio’s intimate Mead Theatre, Abdul’s frustration resulting from anger while yearning for a world of principled order is palpable as evidenced when a single tear rolled down the actor’s right cheek)
Set designer Tony Cisek renders a no-frills classroom with cinder block walls, a high and horizontal row of frosted fixed windows that become eerily prison like when overhead fluorescent lighting is threateningly dimmed.
Still, no matter how dark, beyond the classroom door, a light remains aglow, encouraging the kids to ponder an exit plan.
The Washington Commanders are proud to welcome the LGBTQ community for the fourth annual “Pride Night Out!” on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md.
This will be a matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The Pregame Pride Party Pass and Club level game ticket includes premier party location and club level ticket all-you-can-eat buffet, beer and wine, an exclusive Commanders Pride T-shirt, pregame entertainment and a postgame photo on the field.
More ticket options are available and $5 of every ticket goes back to Team DC. For more information visit the Commanders’ website.
Friday, October 4
“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].
Go Gay DC will host “First Friday LGBTQ+ Community Social” at 7 p.m. at The Commentary. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Saturday, October 5
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
LGBTQ+ People of Color Support Group will be at 1:00p.m. on Zoom. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ People of Color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgment free. For more details, visit thedccenter.org/poc or facebook.com/centerpoc.
Sunday, October 6
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Dinner” at 6:30 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Guests are encouraged to come enjoy an evening of Italian-style dining and conversation with other LGBTQ folk. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
AfroCode DC will be at 4 p.m. at Decades DC. This event will be an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes and a crossover of genres and a fusion of cultures. Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Monday, October 7
Center Aging: Monday Coffee & Conversation will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of their choice. For more details, email [email protected].
Tuesday, October 8
Pride on the Patio Events will host “LGBTQ Social Mixer” at 5:30 p.m. at Showroom. Dress is casual, fancy, or comfortable. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic self to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.
Coming Out Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-facilitated discussion group. It is a safe space to share experiences about coming out and discuss topics as it relates to doing so. For more details, visit the group’s Facebook page.
Trans Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide emotionally and physically safe space for trans* people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more details, email [email protected].
Wednesday, October 9
Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.
Thursday, October 10
Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breathwork, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.
South Asian LGBTQ+ Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. KHUSHDC provides a safe, confidential space for South Asian LGBTQ community members to come together and share experiences. This peer support group is an outlet for South Asian-identified LGBTQ individuals to come and talk about anything affecting them. For more details, email [email protected].
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