BWW Reviews: Trish Crist's '41' from Rhubarb Theater Company

Nashville playwright and director Trish Crist has brought her latest project to the stage of Darkhorse Theatre, a heartfelt consideration of the journey taken by Americans since 1969 - the summer in which the modern lesbian and gay civil rights movement was finally galvanized at the Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village.

Written with obvious respect for the movement and genuine affection for the character's she has created, Crist's 41 is an oftentimes moving, sometimes very emotional, 90 minutes that is made all the more believable and accessible thanks to the warmth and humor evident throughout. Clearly, 41 is Crist's best-written work to date - the dialogue is sharply written and keenly felt, the interactions among the characters are believable, and the characters themselves are multi-dimensional and likable.

While 41 uses the Stonewall Riots as the basis for the free-wheeling discussion that ensues between brother and sister Dee and Lolly (after they've been out dining and drinking the night away), the play is so much more than just a dissection of contemporary history for the past 40 years. Certainly, the journey taken by lesbian and gay Americans since 1969 has been something of a roller-coaster ride and that is reflected in Crist's crisply articulated story, but it is the themes that lie beneath the surface - and which are brought so engagingly to life by the superb ensemble of actors - that set 41 apart and which, quite frankly, distinguish it from the plethora of plays that attempt to capture that lightening in a bottle moment that was Stonewall and attempt to interpret the cultural zeitgeist that has been the four decades since.

Crist's storyline, at its most basic, is the examination of the issues that prompted Dee to leave his Nashville home at the age of 18 to seek his place in the world in the only place he thought he might feel comfortable, and more importantly, find other like-minded individuals who would inspire him, accept him and validate him. In that respect, it's the story of countless young gay men and lesbians who've discovered they are different amid the life of their small Southern hometowns. And it is that universality that draws in the audience so easily: Anyone who ever realized they were different (no matter what that difference is) will identify with the characters of Dee and his much younger and heterosexual sister Lolly.

The easy give-and-take between Dee and Lolly is due both to Crist's witty wordplay and to the genuinely affectionate interplay of Dan McGeachy and Lisa Marie Wright. Obviously, the two actors share more than the color of their hair and their sweetly conveyed moments are underscored by the funny and compelling exchanges.

It's during one of those exchanges that Crist's script hits a false note: When Lolly asks Dee if he was ever in love and he tells her about his relationship with a young man who died in 1972 at the age of 23, Lolly asks if he died of AIDS. Dee explains that "we don't all die of AIDS." But Lolly has been painted as a very informed young woman, who knows all about the history of the gay/lesbian movement. Surely she would know that no one had heard of AIDS in 1972 ; the question seems jarringly out-of-place.

As Lolly learns more about Dee's reasons for moving to New York City and the life he led there and the role he played in the fledgling gay and lesbian movement, she forces her brother to confront his current role and to re-examine his place in the community. It's a heady subject and one every gay person considers at one time or another, and for that reason 41 might pack more of an emotional wallop than first expected, given the generous laughter throughout the play's two acts.

But why must we be told that the love of Dee's life, the man for whom he still pines, the one person who inspired him to be a better person, was, in fact, a heterosexual? We can wrap our minds around it; after all, practically every gay boy falls in love with a straight boy at one point or another. But we get over it and move on. We remember them with all the ardor we can muster, but once we figure out it's a lost cause, we get over it. Somehow, hearing the news from Dee makes me feel sad and a little cheated.

To the playwright's great credit (or perhaps to the director's credit), the other members of Crist's cast - Chris Basso, Wilhelm Peters and Billy Rosenberg - give wonderfully drawn and richly hued performances

Explaining 41 further runs the risk of spoiling the play's outcome for new audiences yet to witness it, although the events of the second act are unwittingly telegraphed by what transpires during intermission - which is nothing at all - which, apparently, sums up Dee's life since returning from his wilder, younger days in NYC.

The play moves briskly through its two acts, which are set in Lolly's stylish apartment, evocatively and gorgeously lighted by designer Paul Cook.

- 41. Written and directed by Trish Crist. Presented by Rhubarb Theater Company at Darkhorse Theater, Nashville. Through August 7.

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