by lisa lipsey – 

Diversionary Theatre’s Executive Artistic Director Matt M. Morrow is at it again, calling attention to theatre’s newest voices. “I’ve got an ear to the ground and my radar attuned to what is coming out across the country. I read The New York Times every day and the title of this show caught my attention. It made me laugh and it made me curious, so I reached out to a couple of colleagues in New York about it and Jordan Seavey’s [playwright] agent sent me a copy of the script.”

Homos, Or Everyone In America, certainly does grab your attention, but as Morrow says, “There is a lot going on in this piece, beyond the title, the play has a lot to say. I was really taken by it and Seavey makes audiences think. The piece feels like a snapshot of ‘right now,’ but that is a slight of hand, a card trick, because it really takes place from 2006 to 2011.”

“The show examines where we are entering the mainstream: Gay marriage, being more accepted and the hurdles ahead. Yet it does so through showing the very intimate relationship of two men trying to navigate married life. You gain an understanding of all the macro complexities, while looking at this relationship on a micro level.”

The New York Times, mentioned before, wrote this about the show’s content, “It’s not for the PG 13 crowd or the P.C. crowd…Aside the bedroom talk and the debates about gay identity politics. The play is fundamentally about the problems inherent in any romantic relationship, the conflicts small and large that put love to the test and often cripple it. Which is, I suppose, where everyone in America might come in.”

Oh, the humanity! Theatre again introduces us to a world we don’t know (or one we know well!) and helps us to see our shared humanity. Morrow says, “Theatre should confront the political landscape we are living in right now—with bravery, insight, wit, compassion and humor—Homos, Or Everyone In America combines all of those things.”

“The show examines where we are entering the mainstream: Gay marriage, being more accepted and the hurdles ahead. Yet it does so through showing the very intimate relationship of two men trying to navigate married life.”

In casting this show, Morrow’s search focused on, “The two leads needed some major chops. This play spans five years and is non-linear, and truly, it is an Olympic effort. Some scenes last 30 seconds and some go for 20 pages. We have the relentlessly talented Jacob Caltrider, who has been performing all over San Diego and other lead Alex Guzman who I started noticing the work of last year. I am excited to be working with them both, because there are major fireworks in terms of their chemistry.” The show’s small cast of four also includes Andréa Agosto and Michael C. Louis.

While Morrow enjoys finding new plays, he is also looking forward to programming classic work. “I look for something that is relevant to the current landscape and speaks to what our community is dealing with right now. Anything that might incite conversation about society and our local culture. I like for a show to be surprising, that is important and I like writing that is fresh and provides an artistic challenge.”

“The artistic challenge in this play is all 32 scenes are out of order and you have to make sense of that.”

Morrow continued. “Also, the dialogue is hyper-realistic: You read the script and it seems like gibberish, then you read it aloud and it makes total sense. The characters speak in fragments and run-ons, sometimes they finish each other’s sentences, which is how we really speak. We are working to make this show an even more intimate experience, the seating and staging is being moved so that the actors are practically sitting in the audience’s laps. It should be fun!”

Homos, Or Everyone In America runs Thursday, September 14 through Sunday, October 15 at the Diversionary. A Director’s Happy Hour takes place on Thursday, October 5, join Director Matt M. Morrow in Fritz’s Lounge for hosted hors d’oeuvres and a chance to chat before the show!

For tickets and more information, call 619.220.0097 or go to diversionary.org.

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