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Member since: March 12, 2008
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Aw, Holly, thank you so much. I'm seriously blushing here. And thank you for coming out to see the show. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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"However, pointing out my physical shortcomings crosses a line."
Mrs. Friedberg, I assure you that, had I known you had optic nerve hypoplasia, I would not have addressed its effects in my review, and I apologize if I caused any offense. Can you see how I, ignorant of your condition, would attribute those effects to acting choices rather than a medical condition? If the condition was mentioned in your bio within the production's program, then I apologize for missing it. I scan the bios but direct most of my attention to the rest of the program: summary, director's notes, etc.
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My apologies to go out to Clark Theatre. In the print edition, we experienced either a layout or a printer's error (I'm not sure which) that caused last week's Arts Experienced column to be published instead of this week's. As a result, the headline and art for the Phanton Tollbooth column were printed, but not the column itself. Luckily, we still have the online edition, which I hope many people will read, and decide to see the show. Again, my apologies.
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The earliest known AIDS-related deaths occurred in the late 50s. The CDC declared an epidemic of it, and named it GRID, sometime in 1981-2. In August 1982 they changed the name to AIDS. Though it did not have a name before that time, people could see, did see, the effects the disorder was having on its victims. It wasn't invisible before the CDC's declaration of an epidemic. On the other hand, nobody had any reliable facts. All they knew was that symptoms were appearing in patients that did not have an apparant cause, but did have an identifiable pattern. Many of these patients were gay, leading to the development of a common belief that the disorder could only be contracted if one were homosexual. Even the CDC misidentified the cause at first; the GR in GRID stands for "gay-related." Thus, there is a definite period before the CDC's announcement but after the virus's spread in which a perception of "gay plague" could have developed. That this play, written in 1979 and published in 1980, could have contained a joke about the virus is not inconceivable.
But as I've already acknowledged, perhaps I've just misinterpreted the joke. Perhaps Jon was just being silly when he told Connie that Leslie's sudden femininity was going to kill him. That doesn't exculpate the rest of the play (e.g. Leslie seducing Mr. Spinner; the gay marriage charade).
But let's go even further. Let's say all the homophobia which I saw in the play wasn't there, that I was reading too much into it. What about all the anti-woman rhetoric in the play? In the world of Love, Sex and the IRS, a woman isn't worthwhile unless she's beautiful. Mrs. Spinner suffers much mockery, not because she's a bad person, but because she doesn't appeal sexually to Mr. Spinner. The downstairs neighbor's obesity is mocked because it diminishes her sexual appeal. According to the play, a woman who doesn't intend to marry is loose or dishonorable, and after one's husband has died one must honor his memory even to the point of deriding and disowning her own son. The play ends "happily" not only because the tax difficulties have been resolved but because the four lovers are married for us on stage.
Women in this play have no value if they cannot be married and bedded.
If you want to do a "silly play," that's great. I love plenty of silly plays. Sometimes we really can use cheap laughs. But if you're going to do a play that contains a lot of hateful ideas, and if you're going to laugh at someone else's expense, expect to be called out for it.
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If the line was not meant as an intentional HIV joke, then I apologize for characterizing it as such, but I was not the only person to interpret the line in this way. Regardless, even if we were to excise that exchange from the script entirely, we would not solve the central problem of the text's immaturity and spitefulness.
I thank you for your kind compliment.
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