by Blythe Walker,
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UNITED STATES, Jul 01 — An unprecedented number of one person shows are featured at theatre festivals around the globe. I’m a sucker for a solo act, so I make sure I see plenty of single person shows. Of them all, one of my absolute favorites is Queer in the U.A
A
n unprecedented number of one person shows are featured at theatre festivals around the globe. I’m a sucker for a solo act, so I make sure I see plenty of single person shows. Of them all, one of my absolute favorites is Queer in the U.S.A., written and performed by Manuel Simons. The play premiered in New York and is now on tour to fringe theatre festivals in Washington, DC, San Francisco and London.
Queer in the U.S.A. is the story of Johnny, a 14-year-old boy from New Jersey, who is bullied and taunted in high school for his unusually “feminine” voice and other evidence of being “different.” Johnny conjures his muse, Bruce Springsteen, to help him find the courage to find his voice. Like a latter-day Candide, Johnny leaves New Jersey and travels to New York City–the emotional distance much greater than the actual miles–retracing Bruce’s footsteps and looking for “his people.”
Writer/actor Manuel Simons completely inhabits each role with authenticity and without judgment or irony, which I found completely refreshing and touching. Each character in Queer in the U.S.A. has a life lesson for Johnny–sometimes positive, sometimes less so, but always with a grain of truth to offer him on his quest for self-acceptance. Along the way, Johnny’s journey becomes a present day Everyman tale, whose search for an authentic life resonates with our own.
Among the characters inhabiting Johnny’s world is David, Johnny’s singing teacher, who promises, for a fee, of course, to unlock Johnny’s “butch” voice. Sounding straight is David’s self-professed key to Johnny’s ultimate success and happiness. Other characters Johnny meets are AMBGR, a gay sex-addict, ostensibly British, rocker with a heart of gold, who gives Johnny a glimpse of what he doesn’t want to be(come); Helga, a purveyor of fake bric-a-brac, whose dishonesty about her wares is a metaphor for the dishonesty that informs her entire life; and most effectively, Helga’s son, George, a street-wise kid and Johnny’s first lover, who is the voice of self-acceptance that Johnny (and we, the audience, whether we admit it or not) seeks.
I won’t disclose how Johnny’s relationship with The Boss plays out in Queer in the U.S.A., so no spoiler alert needed! Suffice to say, it’s a happy ending. I just love a happy ending, don’t you?
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An unprecedented number of one person shows are featured at theatre festivals around the globe. I’m a sucker for a solo act, so I make sure I see plenty of single person shows. Of them all, one of my absolute favorites is Queer in
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