New York City is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots while hosting World Pride in June. Currently running at La Mama is a piece which examines the state of gay rights in the Balkans. The program notes that 55 Shades of Gay: Balkan Spring of Sexual Revolution is the first theater company from Kosovo invited to share their work with an American audience. This play so enraged a member of their Ministry of Justice that he publicly called for the beheading of its cast. The question asked by this production: “Is sexual liberation possible in the Balkans?”
A cast member approaches the audience at the beginning of this show. If you are homophobic, a Christian fundamentalist or a fascist, you are encouraged to leave the theater. What follows is not easy to describe. The play is a political burlesque meant to shock, push buttons, entertain, point out hypocrisy and maybe even open some minds to eliminating discrimination once and for all.
An Italian company has come to a very provincial town in order to build a condom factory which will provide 200 jobs. One of these foreigners has fallen in love with a local man. He applies for a marriage license, supposedly allowed by the country’s European Union approved Constitution. A wall of outrage erupts from intellectuals, politicians, religious leaders and even “professional grenade launchers.” They work hard to keep the wedding from happening. Even Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is vilified for her stance on same sex marriage.
The small town’s mayor looks to distract the public’s attention away from this thorny issue. He devises a scheme to plant palm trees despite the fact that the climate is wrong. Being called crazy for planting palm trees is preferable to being labeled “the town of the butt fuckers.” Aggressively absurdist in style, this piece does not shy away from controversy. “Kill the faggots!” is a frequently repeated mantra. Perhaps it’s time for a new Catholic inquisition, they ponder. The targets for ridicule are many and far-ranging.
Equal parts flamboyant exaggeration and furious indignation, 55 Shades of Gay is a jumble of styles, languages and music. Some scenes are played for laughs while others are intentionally provocative. A tree across the street from the municipal building occasionally comments on the action occurring in the registrar’s office. Even the typewriter has thoughts. Some songs and the color pink are thrown in to this quite energetic (and also frenetic) spectacle.
As a reminder of the continued evolution of equal rights, 55 Shades of Gay is an interesting piece of theatrical experimentation. The five Kosovar actors, particularly the lovelorn Tristan Halilaj, manage to present nicely drawn characterizations (and cartoons) amidst the grotesquerie and satire. Overall, the performance feels a bit long likely due to repetition in the storytelling.
Head downtown to La Mama if you want to see the Qendra Multimedia theater company challenge the status quo. A friend recently commented that the struggle for gay rights is now over since the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. This show reminds us that the voices of oppression are alive and thriving. One cast member says, “Their hatred is hysterical. It makes me laugh.” Here is an opportunity to laugh about no laughing matter.