Reviewed by WARREN DAY
How many times have you heard or even said to yourself, “I wish my father would be more understanding about me being gay.”
The comic twist in the play “The Sum of Us” is that it could be worse if your father was too understanding and way too helpful in your search for Mr. Right. What happens if your straight dad is more comfortable with you being gay than you are?
Running now until May 30 at the Rising Action Theatre in Fort Lauderdale, this comedy/ drama tells the story of shy, 24 year-old Jeff and his widowed but ever so gregarious father.
We’ve all known someone like Jeff, a loner who doesn’t want to be alone, a guy who doesn’t love himself a lot, but who has a lot of love to give.
Part of Jeff’s charm, and the charm of this play, is that he’s such an ordinary bloke in every way, except he’s gay.
In fact, what makes this such an atypical gay play is that the two main characters are typical run-of-the-mill guys. The father is not a sequined drag queen on a bus named Priscilla, but a no-nonsense ferry boat captain. The son is not running for office in San Francisco, but is a plumber in a working class town.
The program lists the time as present day and I think it’s a mistake to do that, because the attitudes and situations makes more sense when you realize the playwright David Stevens conceived it in the late 1980s, and the small Australian town it takes place in was probably more like the early seventies in America.
Director Steven Chambers found a local cast that is physically perfect for their roles, but it’s John McGlothlin as the son who seems to inhabit most effectively the skin and spirit of his character.
From the program notes, McGlothlin seems to have the least stage experience among the cast, yet it’s his performance that’s fully realized.
And yes, in Rising Action tradition, he’s half-naked within a few seconds of the first act. There will be few complaints.
Rising Action Theatre is one of the treasures for the GLBT community in South Florida as they consistently present some of the most interesting plays and one-person shows around. With humor and heart, their latest production tells us that the sum of a father and son is greater than its parts, and that’s true no matter what their sexual orientation may be.
Rising Action Theatre is located at 840 E. Oakland Blvd in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at 800-595-4849 or at their website:
