Arts & Entertainment
Polyamorous gay triad re-enacts American history in ‘Kill the Monsters’
In case you’ve ever wondered what an allegorical story about the history of the United States would look like if it were told in the form of a polyamorous gay romantic comedy, you might be surprised to find that you’re not alone.
Filmmaker Ryan Lonergan has done more than wonder about it – he’s made a film based on exactly that premise. “Kill the Monsters,” which drops in February, follows three New York men living in a polyamorous relationship who set off across the country when their youngest member becomes “unwell,” seeking a holistic cure from a Santa Monica doctor. Along the way, they encounter a series of female characters whose interactions with them mirror US history – while also playing out realistically in an entirely contemporary setting.
Lonergan, who wrote, directed and starred in the movie as well as co-producing it, says he came up with the idea when he was revisiting the George Orwell classic, “Animal Farm,” and was inspired by the novel’s shrewd use of allegory in exploring the rise of Communism through a story about barnyard animals.
“It made me want to explore the evolution of democracy in the United States in a similar way,” the first-time director explains, “only my film would use humans rather than farm animals for protagonists. I wanted to ask: if democracy is the final evolution of government, as so many philosophers claim it to be, then why is it so ineffective at serving the people? If one watches the men in this film and wonders why they stay together, one must also question the same for these united states. Why should we stay together? How did we get here? What, if anything, can be done to improve the situation?”
If all of that sounds like more than you want from a romantic comedy, don’t worry. The director also assures us that his film is “a road movie centering around the preservation of a long term relationship” that never overtly concerns itself with politics or history, saying that those connections are made “through allegory and humor.”
Besides Lonergan, the film stars Garrett McKechnie and Jack Ball as the other points of the triad, whose cross-country journey takes them from hot sex in their luxurious NYC apartment, through a road trip that erupts in a conflict that may divide their union, to a high-pressure all-out poker war with scheming European lesbians. On the 2018 festival circuit, it was an official selection at dozens of fests, including Frameline42, Raindance Film Festival, and the Seattle Queer Film Festival.
It becomes available on DVD and VOD platforms February 18. You can watch the trailer below.
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
Theater
A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan stars as Duke Orsino
‘Twelfth Night’
Through June 22
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan (they/them)loves tapping into the multitudes within.
Currently Keegan plays the melancholic Duke Orsino in Folger Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night.” Director Mei Ann Teo describes the production as “sexy, hilarious, and devastating” and full of “elegant kink.”
Washington-based, Keegan enjoys a busy and celebrated career. Her vast biography includes Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award, Best Actress) and Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, both at Round House Theatre; Diana Son’s Stop Kiss directedby Holly Twyford for No Rules Theatre Company; and Contractions at Studio Theatre, to name just a few.
In addition to acting, Keegan works as a polyamory and ethical non-monogamy life and relationship coach, an area of interest that grew out of personal exploration. For them, coaching seems to work hand in hand with acting.
WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re playing the lovesick Orsino in Twelfth Night. How did that come about?
ALYSSA KEEGAN: The director was looking to cast a group of actors with diverse identities; throughout auditions, there were no constraints regarding anyone’s assigned sex at birth. It was really a free for all.
BLADE: What’s your approach to the fetching, cod-piece clad nobleman?
KEEGAN: Offstage I identify as completely nonbinary; I love riding in this neutral middle space. But I also love cosplay. The ability to do that in the play gives me permission to dive completely into maleness.
So, when I made that decision to play Orsino as a bio male, suddenly the part really cracked open for me. I began looking for clues about his thoughts and opinions about things like his past relationships and his decision not to date older women.
Underneath his mask of bravura and sexuality, and his firmness of feelings, he’s quite lonely and has never really felt loved. It makes sense to me why his love for Olivia is so misguided and why he might fall in love with the Cesario/Viola character.
BLADE: As an actor, do you ever risk taking on the feelings of your characters?
KEEGAN: Prior to my mental health education, yes, and that could be toxic for me. I’ve since learned that the nervous system can’t tell the difference between real emotional distress and a that of a fully embodied character.
So, I created and share the Empowered Performer Project. [a holistic approach to performance that emphasizes the mental and emotional well-being of performing artists]. It utilizes somatic tools that help enormously when stepping into a character.
BLADE: Has changing the way you work affected your performances?
KEEGAN: I think I’m much better now. I used to have nearly debilitating stage fright. I’d spend all day dreading going onstage. I thought that was just part of the job. Now, I’ve learned to talk to my body. Prior to a performance, I can now spend my offstage time calmly gardening, working with my mental health clients, or playing with my kid. I’m just present in my life in a different way.
BLADE: Is Orsino your first time playing a male role?
KEEGAN: No. In fact, the very first time I played a male role was at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va. I played Hipolito in Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy.
As Hipolito, I felt utterly male in the moment, so much so that I had audience members see me later after the show and they were surprised that I was female. They thought I was a young guy in the role. There’s something very powerful in that.
BLADE: Do you have a favorite part? Male or female?
KEEGAN: That’s tough but I think it’s Maggie the Cat. I played the hyper-female Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House. In the first act she didn’t stop talking for 51 minutes opposite Gregory Wooddell as Brick who barely had to speak. That lift was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been asked to do in acting.
BLADE: What about Folger’s Twelfth Night might be especially appealing to queer audiences?
KEEGAN: First and foremost is presentation. 99% of the cast identify as queer in some way.
The approach to Shakespeare’s text is one of the most bold and playful that I have ever seen. It’s unabashedly queer. The actors are here to celebrate and be loud and colorful and to advocate. It’s a powerful production, especially to do so close to the Capitol building, and that’s not lost on any of us.
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A hilarious ‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger full of ‘elegant kink’
