Playwright Paul Rudnick's latest work opens at a meeting of the Massapequa chapter of the P.L.G.B.T.Q.C.C.C & O, or the Parents of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, the Transgendered, the Questioning, the Curious, the Creatively Concerned and Others. For the next two hours, the audience sits through a play that can only be called an "experience."
"The New Century" is a collection of four hilarious gay-centric short plays set in post-Sept. 11 America. The first three plays use extended monologues and sparse dialogue to introduce the audience to the work's main characters: the self-labeled most loving, accepting mother of all time, the über-flamboyant host of a late night public-access television show named "Too Gay" and a rotund Mid-western mother of an AIDS victim who spends her spare time making sock monkeys and crocheted tissue box covers. The fourth and final play links all of the characters' stories, bringing them together in the maternity ward of a New York hospital.
"Pride and Joy," the first short play, is the story of Helene Nadler (played by Paula Plum). She is a middle-aged Jewish mother of a lesbian, a transvestite and a gay scatologist with a leather fetish. Although Nadler's situation is tough, she combats it with an acerbic wit. For instance, when Nadler's oldest daughter comes out to her, Nadler is not really surprised and tells her that with her Amish-boy haircut, "Helen Keller would know you were a lesbian."
Yet Nadler still comes across as a loving and caring mother. Plum does a wonderful job of interspersing Rudnick's cutting one-liners with moments of tenderness and compassion. Nadler's jokes would sound homophobic coming from most people, but Plum is able to turn them into a tribute to the character's love for her children.
The second play, "Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach," is set at a 4 a.m. public access television show hosted by the flamboyant Mr. Charles (Robert Saoud), who was kicked out of New York for being "too gay." This is the funniest and most entertaining short play, from Mr. Charles asking, "When an English person comes out is anyone really surprised? Did anyone say, ‘Oh no, not Ian McKellen?,'" to his guide on how to identify a gay man in the audience ("He's saving his playbill and he's awake"). This story also has the most to say.
Mr. Charles is a product of his anger at the kind of political correctness that demands that gay men hide their sexuality if they want to be seen as equal citizens. Although Mr. Charles can, at times, be a little heavy-handed, such as when he says, "We can hold jobs, go to church and raise children, just like everyone else," he is an eccentric, lovable character, and Saoud is a pleasure to watch in the role.
The third and most poignant of the vignettes, "Crafty," features Barbara Ellen Diggs (Kerry Dowling), a Midwesterner who spends her time making crafts that others might just label as junk. Although the character initially comes off as a stale and cliché representation of a Midwesterner, annoyance turns to sympathy when the audience finds out that she has lost a son to AIDS. Barbara Ellen's dialogue about her son's death exemplifies Rudnick's ability to interweave the comic with the sad.
The final play, "The New Century," is the most disappointing of the show. When Rudnick unites the characters in the hospital ward of a New York hospital, it feels a bit contrived. Furthermore, his attempt to explain post-Sept. 11 America with an analogy to Century 21, a New York discount store and the origin of the play's title, feels a little too forced.
Despite the shortcomings of the final play, as a whole, "The New Century" is a fun, uproarious show and a great way to spend two hours.
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The New Century
Written by Paul Rudnick
Directed by Paul Daigneault
At the SpeakEasy Stage through Feb. 14
Tickets $30 to $50
