creative class

No Sweat

Theater, Cultural Events Add to Gay Games Schedule

by Bryan Cole

Does the thought of watching another sporting event fill you with dread? After enduring the Winter Olympics and the World Cup, you may desire nothing more than a few days respite from skis and bats and balls.

The Gay Games haven't forgotten about you.

Along with the events on the playing field, there's a slate of cultural events geared toward LGBT visitors. Long considered iconic cities of the Rust Belt, Cleveland and Akron are ready to bask in the spotlight again.

"It's very exciting both for the region and for us," said Clyde Simon, artistic director of Convergence-Continuum, a Cleveland-based theater company. Simon will be directing Amazons and Their Men, a play that takes a darkly comedic look at gay artists during wartime.

"We were going to do this show anyway," he said. "We wanted to make sure we had a show up during the Gay Games."

The play runs Thursdays through Saturdays at the Liminis Theater in Cleveland from Aug 8 though the end of the month. The run includes Gay Games Week performances on Aug 9, 14, 15 and 16.

For Akronites such as James Slowiak, a professor of theater arts at the University of outlookohio.com

Akron, the festivities are an exciting chance to casing its existing cultural institutions. The bring attention to their city.

"I think it's great. I think Akron has a lot to offer," Slowiak said. "There's a big range of arts organizations in Summit County," he notes, including New World Performance Laboratory, for whom he is artistic co-director.

Like Simon in Cleveland, Slowiak will be directing a play with LGBT themes to be performed when the Gay Games are in Ohio. The play, Virginia Woolf's Orlando Adapted by Sarah Ruhl, focuses on an immortal man's quest for love.

"We were looking for a project that we could do in conjunction [with the Games]," Slowiak said. Orlando fit the bill: Its source material, the novel, Orlando: A Biography, is a mainstay of queer literature and features a character who moves fluidly between genders.

The play runs Aug 7-9 and 14-16 at the Balch Street Theatre in Akron.

"It's a playful and fun contribution to what's going on in the Gay Games."

By staging challenging, contemporary works, the directors intend to meet the standard set by past Gay Games host cities, including cultural capitals such as New York and Amsterdam.

In addition to live theater, the region is show-

Cleveland Museum of Art will be hosting Night Before 9: Out in Art, a private kickoff party on Aug 8, the eve of the Opening Ceremonies.

The event will give visitors an opportunity to see the museum's galleries during off-hours, as well as listen to the music of Escort, a critically acclaimed 17-piece disco orchestra.

"The museum staff is thrilled that the Gay Games is coming here," said August Napoli, deputy director and chief advancement officer for the museum. "It's kind of a seminal moment for us."

Napoli said he hopes the Gay Games, along with the media attention that will accompany the 2016 Republican National Convention, will help re-establish Cleveland as a vibrant arts destination.

But in the present, leaders in the community are focused on pulling off their events successfully, and they say they're mindful of just how important their work is. Their performances aren't just to entertain visitors but to broaden the understanding of LGBT issues among the community at large.

Simon, director of Amazons and Their Men, remembers the power of hits like Angels in America and how much more prominent these themes are nowadays.

She is sure.

"It's not an underground thing anymore," he said, referring to the abundance of theater presenting LGBT characters. As visibility increases, prejudice continues to dwindle.

At the Cleveland Museum of Art, artwork provides that same antidote. Part of a museum's responsibility is to present a diverse set of ideas, as expressed by the artists. That often serves to provide a voice for minority, disenfranchised communities that are shut out of other cultural institutions.

photos: Brian Dotin

"[The museum] becomes a great equalizer," Napoli said. "It represents all cultures and points of view. I think it helps break down barriers."

Not that the Gay Games need much help on that front. LGBT athletes have competed among the best in the world, and their talent speaks for itself.

But on the sidelines, in art galleries and neighborhood theaters, artists will always be a bit ahead of the curve, paving the way for greater acceptance and understanding.

"I like to think of us as the dreamers of society," said Slowiak, the director of Orlando. "I think that's what Virginia Woolf was doing. It's one of our roles as artists to light the way."

Fun and the Games

See our full calendar of Gay Games events on Pages 27-35.

august 2014 45