Lavender Fest Reviews: ‘Stuck’ and ‘Yesterday is Dead’

Maria Chryssopoulos wows in The previous evening is Dead Photo by Merrielle Gatlin From July to queer performers took the stage at Out Front Theatre for Lavender Fest a performing arts festival spotlighting and celebrating queer Southern stories Among the shows featured in the festival were Stuck an intimate reunion of two high school best friends by New York playwright and actor JJ Ivey and The previous evening is Dead a one-woman show journeying through lesbian identity years ago to this day by Mellon Grant recipient Maria Chryssopoulos Both shows had strong emotional hearts and earnest attempts at portraying different complex aspects of queer Southern life Stuck We were happy then We should be happy now Stuck tells the story of high school best friends Dale and Drew reuniting after years when Drew returns home during the pandemic when Dale comes knocking at his door late at night and drunk What follows is a night of nostalgia grief and the kindling of an old flame never realized Drew played by Ivey is the queer kid who got out of his hometown to try to make something of himself Dale played by Royce Johnson is the assumed straight man who never left his hometown twice married with a child born when he was only Stuck tackles queer themes the complexities of sexuality huge thank you to Ivey for acknowledging bisexuality the struggles of being fat in the gay district and of module the flirtation and eroticism between Dale and Drew but the true heart of the show lives in its themes of growing up The audience questions Dale s intentions with Drew throughout the entire show is he truly in love with him or is he just desperate to return to his youth Drew only a representation of the last time Dale was truly happy Ivey s ending to the show is smartly open for interpretation whether Dale genuinely wants a relationship with Drew or was just drunkenly looking for an escape from a life he hates is up to each audience member Whatever conclusion you come to Ivey s writing is faithfully empathetic Dale is never indicted for being selfish or immature or manipulative he was forced by fundamentalist Christianity to grow up too fast and become a father when he was still a child and all you can feel for him is sympathy for having his youth stolen from him Ivey s narrative voice is rooted in their Tennessee upbringing the dialogue clearly handled by someone who knows the South and while there are moments when the dialogue feels awkward like Ivey and Johnson are clearly reciting a script instead of having a genuine conversation there are also moments of authentic truth Drew bares his soul and Ivey bares their body while talking about how demanding it is to be both ignored and fetishized as a fat person by gay men Ivey is shirtless and later fully naked baring the loose skin of weight loss that Drew says he s insecure of so you know as an audience member that this is a moment of genuine vulnerability from Ivey It s moving to witness and evidence of Ivey s skill as a storyteller they are dutifully committed to radical honesty even when it s their own skin in the championship Stuck isn t perfect but it is an intimate sexy funny and above all else truthful look at the messiness and grief of being queer and closeted in the South Related stories Actor s Express staging Pulitzer Prize-winning musical A Strange Loop Georgia Council for the Arts announces more than million in grants The last day is Dead Taking notes during Chryssopoulos performance of On the previous day is Dead was a challenge because it meant tearing my eyes away from the show Chryssopoulos one-woman show follows a non-traditional narrative structure she is Maria speaking directly to the audience about the unpublished manuscript The previous evening is Dead by Ellen Lois Frazar she uncovered in the UGA Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library then suddenly she s Joel the s college scholar and musician and main character of noted manuscript Joel is soft-spoken and romantic a young lesbian desperate to love and be loved Then just as suddenly as she was Joel she s Maria again traveling years into the future with just a scant actions across the stage Where Joel is soft and shy Maria is brash and honest in her frustrations with the realities of being a lesbian both years ago and in current times This structure continues throughout the show Joel journeys through college falls in love with Pat and has her heart broken while Maria interrupts to share her thoughts on the manuscript as it relates to her own experiences coming out to her mother and father being called the devil by a man at the lesbian bar and struggling with the binary expectations of lesbian dating With references to other th century lesbian works like Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers by Lillian Faderman and The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall literature is the bicycle Maria uses to pose the question what really has changed for lesbians in a century Chryssopoulos writing is perfect well-researched without a word out of place Even with its complex narrative structure her themes and ultimate conclusion are clear every piece falling into place to complete a puzzle so moving and beautiful you ll leave the show wanting to weep Just as perfect is her performance Chryssopoulos is absolutely magnetic she swings from funny to earnest defeated to hopeful with pinpoint accuracy and embodies every character as if they are no different from Maria Chryssopoulos herself The preceding day is Dead is a show you ll want to keep up with because if there comes another chance for you to see it you do not want to forgo the opportunity I promise you ll regret it The post Lavender Fest Reviews Stuck and The previous evening is Dead appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta