Review - Unnatural Acts: The Boys In The Dorm

On a weekend when New Yorkers who favor marriage rights for gay couples are celebrating an important victory, Classic Stage Company's Unnatural Acts is a sobering dramatization of a shameful episode involving a Joseph McCarthy-type gay witch hunt from nearly a century ago that was only recently uncovered.

The play's source comes from sealed documents discovered in the archives of Harvard University in 2002, detailing secret hearings held in 1920 after a suicide investigation revealed evidence of homosexual activity among students.

Directed and conceived by Tony Speciale, who wrote the play with members of The Plastic Theatre, the text of Unnatural Acts is a combination of transcripts, letters and a bit of filling in the blanks, climaxing in a series of scenes where, facing suspension or even expulsion, these young men must decide whether to admit "guilt," try to lie their way out of the situation or seek leniency by naming names.

Looking crisp and swell in designer Andrea Lauer's period suits, we first see how these accomplished Ivy Leaguers go about their daily lives, communicating through coded language, guarded flirtations and quip-laden banter. But in the dorm room of confident and cocky congressman's son, Ernest Roberts (Nick Westrate), boozy bacchanals allow the boys a chance to let loose.

Played by a very strong ensemble, The Revelers include romantic couple Keith (Frank De Julio) and his drama club mentor Nathaniel (Joe Curnutte), creatively-thinking survivalist Stanley (Max Jenkins), bitchy WASP Edward (Jess Burkle) and well-chiseled athlete Kenneth (Roe Hartrampf), who doesn't identify himself as gay but doesn't mind the occasional homoerotic thrill.

The evening includes some familiar moments, such as the opening tableau of the boys posed for a yearbook photo, the stark terror of singled-out witnesses testifying before a shadowy assemblage of officials and the final moments when we find out what the future had in store for each character (At the performance I attended, the epilogue for one character inspired audible shock by many in attendance.) but Speciale's staging never feels clichéd as the story and dialogue proves swift-moving and engrossing,

Like The Normal Heart, a great deal of Unnatural Acts' effectiveness comes from knowing that it really happened. The play is at its best when working directly from the transcripts of the hearings, connecting modern audiences with events that were nearly erased from history.

Photos by Joan Marcus: Top: Jess Burkle, Roe Hartrampf and Will Rogers; Bottom (Clockwise): Nick Westrate, Devin Norik, Frank De Julio, Joe Curnutte, Jess Burkle and Max Jenkins.

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"Love is sweeping the country!"

-- Ira Gershwin, Of Thee I Sing

The grosses are out for the week ending 6/26/2011 and we've got them all right here in BroadwayWorld.com's grosses section.

Up for the week was: THE ADDAMS FAMILY (20.0%), THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (17.9%), MARY POPPINS (10.6%), MASTER CLASS (10.5%), MAMMA MIA! (10.5%), SISTER ACT (9.7%), THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES (8.5%), BILLY ELLIOT: THE MUSICAL (7.6%), THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (5.9%), ROCK OF AGES (5.8%), BORN YESTERDAY (5.3%), THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT (4.6%), PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT (3.6%), MEMPHIS (1.9%), GHETTO KLOWN (1.7%), JERSEY BOYS (1.3%), RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ON BROADWAY (1.2%), CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (0.8%), CHICAGO (0.6%), THE LION KING (0.1%), HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (0.1%),

Down for the week was: BABY IT'S YOU! (-3.1%), BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGDHAD ZOO (-1.8%), JERUSALEM (-1.6%), THE NORMAL HEART (-1.4%),