The Band Played On

Boy Band - The cast of The Boys In The Band
 
Since its opening in 1968, Mart Crowley’s seminal gay play, The Boys in the Band, has had a colorful and controversial history. Critics have called it stereotypical and self-loathing. But on the eve of an innovative revival, playwright Mart Crowley is sanguine about such concerns.
 
“There was a bad patch the play went through in the wake of activism,”  the 74-year-old playwright says. “Everyone thought all images of gays should be positive. But I don’t think an art form can be held to the standard of completely positive imagery.” Truth be told, when homosexuality was pathologized as a psychological disorder in the pre-Stonewall era, internalized homophobia was a reality for gay men all over the nation.
 
Besides, Crowley feels that his play isn’t as filled with self-loathing as its detractors would have us believe. “Harold really confronts these self-hating homosexuals,”  he says. “And Donald is dealing with his identity and self-destructive impulses. But it really has nothing to do with his sexuality.”
 
In any case, the hit play, about the tensions and drama surrounding a group of gay friends and a handsome hustler at a birthday party, put Crowley on the map: “I came from a small rural town in Mississippi, and there were these weirdo degrees of reaction—people were happy that one of theirs had ‘made it,’ but they would never talk about what it was that did the trick, so to speak—no pun intended.”
 
But is Boys still relevant? Director Jack Cummings III, who is staging a new production for the Transport Group, thinks so, declaring, “After the last ten years, with these issues cropping up every election, it sounds so current. And the issue of people, gay or straight, hating themselves is definitely still with us.” Cummings also found the cast’s behind-the-scenes dialogue compelling. “The straight actors were asking the gays about their feelings, and vice versa,” he recalls. “And one of the gay actors told us, ‘I decided to change my walk so someone doesn’t yell, “I hope you get AIDS and die!” ever again.’”
 
That comment points to just how much Crowley’s characters can speak to a contemporary audience. “If you watch the play with older and younger men, the older men will say, ‘We’re not like that anymore,’” Cummings says. “And the younger men will say, ‘We’re just like that.’”
 
For the show, the Transport Group has chosen a Chelsea venue dubbed “The Penthouse,” a former photo studio that approximates the look of a New York loft. “Maybe our production can be about bringing an audience physically into the world,” Cummings enthuses. To that end, beer and wine will be available—and audience members can even bring their own alcohol!
 
As for the actors, “I’m so in awe of them,” Cummings says. “They’re a great group of guys. They’re aware of what a great play it is, what it has to say and its importance. And they want to bring as much passion and care to it as they possibly can.”    N
 
The Boys in the Band plays through March 14 at The Penthouse (37 W 26th St, 212-352-3101). Visit TransportGroup.org for more info.