Gay Play Tuesdays: THE PRISON PLAYS
THE PRISON PLAYS:
Featuring Selected Scenes from Fortune and Men’s Eyes by John Herbert (1967) & Short Eyes by Miguel Piñero (1974)
September 17th at 6:30pm
Featuring a discussion with justice system-impacted artist & writer Frank Kensaku Saragosa
Join us for Gay Play Tuesdays, which will take place on September 17th at 6:30pm, when we will read selected scenes from Fortune and Men’s Eyes by John Herbert (1967) and Short Eyes by Miguel Piñero (1974). This will be a unique departure from our regular format as, instead of reading a full play, we will explore the connections between these two plays by reading selected scenes from each play and discussing their shared themes and ideas. We will also be joined by justice system-impacted artist & writer Frank Kensaku Saragosa for a moderated conversation and Q&A following the readings.
Telling the stories of incarcerated young men in the 1960s, Fortune and Men’s Eyes is a poetic and brutal drama written by John Herbert in 1967 to process and analyze his own experience in Canada’s prison system and dramatize experiences that LGBTQIA+ individuals face while imprisoned. The play inspired the creation of the Fortune Society, a New York City-based advocacy and support organization for former prisoners.
The first play written by a Puerto Rican to be performed on Broadway, American playwright Miguel Piñero’s dramatic play Short Eyes (1974) concerns a middle-class white man who enters a predominantly Black and Latino prison after being accused of child molestation. Nominated for six Tony Awards, Short Eyes received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Obie Award for “Best Play of the Year.”
To sign-up for our Gay Play Tuesdays: The Prison Plays on September 17th, please fill out the sign-up form!
What is “Gay Play Tuesdays”?
What makes a “gay play?” Is it dependent on the identity of the author or characters? The reception of the play by LGBTQIA+ audiences? The play’s politics? Or is there something else, less definable, that might make a play a gay classic?
Join our Resident Dramaturg, Jesse Marchese, for a monthly free play reading salon where we will investigate some of the most impactful, provocative, and fearless “gay plays” from the 20th and 21st centuries. Being a “salon,” this is not a professional performance. Rather, we treat each session as a classroom where the plays are our teachers.
We will treat every session as a first read through, assigning parts on a first come, first served basis. You are welcome to come and read a role out loud or just listen along – no experience necessary! Once we finish reading through the play we will engage in a short discussion of its themes and ideas.
