By James V. Ruocco
Two men - one black; one white - meet and fall in love in a gay bar in Houston, Texas during the 1950's.
Thus begins, Long Wharf's world premiere staging of "On the Grounds of Belonging," Ricardo Perez Gonzalez's new, important drama about gay love, gay codes, gay sex and gay conventions that digs deep into the homosexual past of yesterday with a surprising openness and vision that pulses with a forward-moving persistence and vitality that is completely upfront and needs no introduction.
On the surface, Gonzalez's work is very much a product of its time, chronically the romance of a biracial gay couple in Jim Crow-era Texas, where that kind of love was not only taboo, but met with a history of violence and prejudice that did not want to see it flourish or succeed. No matter how messy, complicated or spat upon, no one dropped their guard or refused to follow their romantic beliefs, a key point of "On the Ground of Belonging," which the playwright acknowledges through choice words, dialogue, characters and events that retrace gay history proudly, humanly and importantly in ways that draw connections to the present LGBTQ lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of today.
Stirring.
Complicated.
Honest.
Provocative.
Important.
The inhabitants of this play are meticulously drawn and illuminated so that their story flickers, sputters and flames with a profound consciousness and weight that is fully human and intense in all the right ways. Writing well about the past, Gonzalez fills his play text with piercing concreteness and headstrong force and reflections that produce the effect of realism unobtrusively. There's also a rhythmic completeness to his language in form and concern that gives the piece added power, depth, knowledge and resonance.
Staging "On the Grounds of Belonging," director David Mendizabal's attitude and intimate stagecraft construction is fueled by a bold, consistent mindset that investigates a love that, in 1950's Texas, though enjoyable, was underscored by pain, hatred and cruelty. Nonetheless, he crafts an interesting, well-played drama that is brash, provocative, heated, mincingly humorous and awash in a sadness that still persists today. As the play progresses from scene to scene, Mendizabal moves the action along with speed and gusto and amped-up moments that reflect the story's heartfelt moments, its quiet torments, its bewitching tenderness, its sexual boldness and its emotional tragedy.
The production also benefits greatly from a raw, fit interpretation that never veers out of control, disrespects the characters or adapts an overly preachy tone that lessens the impact, the presence or the pathos on stage. Here, conversations, mood swings, disclosures, details, boozy retreats and explosions are depicted with a confidence that is clean and clear. As director and storyteller, Mendizabal's take on the material is both rewarding and fulfilling.
He also treats the play's sexual content openly and realistically with lots of heated talk about oral sex, penetration, climaxing and sexual acts, many of which happen offstage. And when the script dictates same-sex kissing, embracing, touching and the tearing off of one's clothes for some very passionate, raw sex in the bedroom, he doesn't hold back for a moment and neither does the onstage actors. This conceit, through taboo for the time frame of the play, is staged with the right spark and intensity to make it pop and resonate honestly without any form of calculation.
"On the Grounds of Belonging" stars Jeremiah Clapp as Thomas Aston, Calvin Leon Smith as Russell Montgomery, Tracey Conyer Lee as Tanya Starr, Blake Anthony Morris as Henry Stanfield, Thomas Silcott as Hugh Williams and Craig Bockhorn as Mooney Fitzpatrick.
The casting of Jeremiah Clapp as Thomas Aston and Calvin Leon Smith as Russell Montgomery, the gay lovers of the story, is powerful, poignant and particularly moving. Both actors have the right charisma, puzzled kindness, dare, jagged edge, braveness and relatable gayness their character's demand to pull off the play's troubled romance and its heart-wringing conclusion. Thomas Silcott, in the role of black bar manager Hugh Williams, delivers a well-intentioned character turn filled with great insight and acquired observation and patience. As Tanya Starr, a blues singer who delivers some jazzy, moody torch songs, Tracey Conyer Lee is genuine, emotional and very much at the top of her game. If anyone is doing "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill," Lee would be the perfect choice to play the troubled, drug-addicted Billie Holiday. Blake Anthony Morris does not disappoint as Henry Stanfield, a promiscuous homosexual prone to backroom sex, toilet sex and any other kind of gay sex. It's a complex, intense performance played with rattlesnake allure and menace that the actor inhabits and exudes most convincingly. As Mooney Fitzpatrick, a racist Southern gay man who owns two of the town's gay bars, Craig Bockhorn conveys his character's prejudiced qualities with a swift and bullish-like thrust that never wavers. But when the dust settles, a genuine pathos and raw concern, emerges.
Celebrating its world premiere at Long Wharf, "On the Grounds of Belonging" is a poignant, soul-bearing play about social oppression, racism and homosexuality that bravely looks back at a forgotten time and people when certain lifestyles, choices and sexuality were not always welcome. Playwright Ricardo Perez Gonzalez drives the message home with passion, allure, despair and plenty of heartbreak. There are laughs. There are tears. There are surprises. There is lashing out. But through it all, the play itself is yet another hard nod to the bigotries that exist - then and now - for people willing to take a stand, be themselves and hold their head up high and proud whichever the identity stripe they choose to wear and follow.
One final note: This play is the first installment of a trilogy. So this is not the end. It's just the beginning.
"On the Grounds of Belonging" is being staged at Long Wharf Theatre (222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT), now through November 3.
For tickets or more information, call (203) 787-4282.
website: longwharf.org.
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