JULY 31, 1998 GAY PEOPle's ChronICLE 13
EVENINGS OUT
Play asks the question: What's wrong with being a sissy?
by Kaizaad Kotwal Columbus-Regardless of their truthfulness or point of origin, stereotypes have the ability to generate heated discourse. An excellent case in point is the upcoming presentation of The Last Hairdresser by Reality Theatre.
Doug Holsclaw wrote The Last Hairdresser as resident playwright for Theatre Rhinoceros in San Francisco. The play follows the adventures of three gay hairdress-
"I don't even know
what the term
'straight acting'
means.
"
ers as they fight the "bitch within" and ask the question, "What's wrong with being a sissy?"
When director Michael Mauldin first read the play he thought it was “a cute idea," but subsequent re-readings convinced Mauldin that besides being a great farce, Hairdresser had some very "radical and angry points to make." It was this "surprisingly dark element from a very clever playwright” that convinced Mauldin to direct the Reality production of the play.
Mauldin came to Columbus in 1993 to pursue his doctorate at Ohio State University, and the first play he saw here was Reality's production of I Hate Hamlet.
"In a romantic sort of way I wanted my last production in Columbus to be with Reality before I move to Missouri,” he said. Mauldin leaves for Springfield, Missouri shortly after Hairdresser opens to begin a job as professor of theatre at South Western Missouri State University.
An accomplished actor himself (he has toured all over for 23 years playing Mark Twain in a one man show, and for five years playing Edgar Alan Poe-both shows that were filmed by PBS), Maudlin says he is toying with the idea of doing a one-man show about Oscar Wilde.
"There is a rebirth of Wilde in this culture and I have always been fascinated by him and his spirit," Mauldin said.
It is this very rebirth of Wilde, Mauldin
STEPHEN WEBSTER
The cast of The Last Hairdresser strikes a “Charlie's Angels" pose. From left, Alex Libby, Roger Whitaker and Mark Snyder.
believes, that is present as a major undercurrent, "consciously or subconsciously" in The Last Hairdresser. Wilde, he says, embraced gayness with all its facets, including the softer and more feminine faces of male homosexuality.
The reaction against Wildean gayness forced men from English tearooms and into all-American muscle-rooms. Mauldin hypothesizes that this rejection of Wildean images of homosexuality "first happened out of fear as men began to go to the gym, buff up and become 'straight acting'.”
Mauldin believes that in some of the larger gay communities across America there
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is an emerging reaction against this cult of smoothness, silicone and steroid-induced perfection.
"I don't even know what the term 'straight acting' means," Mauldin quips. Of The Last Hairdresser, Mauldin says, "the play explores the things that can turn certain men into bitter and bitchy queens, and these things aren't biological, they are learned. It doesn't explore these shifts in the pendulum of gay imagery in an overt and condescending way,” he adds, "but rather, this brilliant playwright explores very subtly the way in which the gay community oppresses within itself and discriminates against its very own." Mauldin
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says that, "the prejudice within the gay community is so intense especially around issues of age and the masculine versus the feminine."
Hairdresser has an "insidious nature" that Mauldin finds compelling.
"The play has wonderfully archetypal characters from very queeny to very butch and hyper-masculine acting characters," he said. "A lot of the play is about role-playing and there are the three main hairdressers and then there are four other actors who play approximately 32 other roles."
"I find the image of the queen very fascinating especially the way in which this play explores it in its subtext," Mauldin said. "The queens, in all their guises, are the people who have made the most difference in the gay rights movement in many ways," Mauldin passionately emphasizes.
"Take Stonewall as a perfect example," he says. "We've forgotten that, especially these men hiding behind these masks of the cult of masculinity who would not have had the balls to do what these queens did [at Stonewall]. So where do they get off being condescending?"
While Mauldin can passionately argue the radical subtext of The Last Hairdresser, he is also well aware that "above all it is a very funny, very silly and immensely enjoyable romp of a play." He also believes that audiences of all sorts will identify in one way or another with the characters.
“One of the fun things of working with this cast is being able to perfect the technical execution of farce and the technical way in which to create a laugh," Mauldin said. "That is the great challenge to me as a director, including working on keeping the cinematic nature of the script clear at all times for the audience."
The Reality Theatre, at 736 N. Pearl St. will present The Last Hairdresser August 69, 13-16, 20-22 and 27-29. The August 6 show is at 7:30 p.m., Sunday shows are at 7:00 p.m. and on all other nights the curtain is at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $12.00 for students, seniors and differently abled people. Call 614-294-7541 for reservations and information.
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