CHRISTINE HAHN

A view from

under the bridge

March 7, 2003

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

T

In the Blood presents the pansexuality of poverty

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-When people think of the homeless, if they think of them at all, they mostly think of the classic image of the wino, begging for quarters to get a bottle of booze. Less often do they think of a relatively young woman with her children, forced to huddle together against the cold.

Seldom would they think that the woman could be anything but heterosexual; after all, aren't gay men and lesbians more affluent than their heterosexual counterparts?

Suzan-Lori Parks' play In the Blood, at Dobama Theatre, shows the lie behind that assumption.

This is not to say that Hester, the main character in Parks' modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter, is lesbian or bisexual. It could be argued that, despite the plethora of children she has borne, she herself is more asexual than anything, at most reflecting other people's sexual desires back at them as a form of erotic mirror.

Certainly the woman from the welfare office with whom she shared a ménage à trois was far more active in their sexual encounter than Hester was. Hester's best friend, Amiga Gringa, is the one who suggested that they engage in live sex shows to earn money, and Gringa is the one who wishes to film the act so they can sell the videotapes. All along, Hester herself seems more to acquiesce, to do anything that seems like it will benefit her and her children.

One of the most fascinating elements of the play is that, except for Hester, each of the other actors plays two roles, one of Hester's children and one of the other adults in the play. This illustrates the cycle of poverty, abuse and exploitation, and asks if the children themselves will continue the cycle or break it.

So when Amiga Gringa talks about her feelings for Hester, it is the face of Beauty, her youngest daughter, speaking as well.

Gringa's relationship with Hester, however, is more complex than some of the other characters in the play, many of whom simply use her as a receptacle and then walk away.

"Gringa provides her with a kind of love she doesn't get elsewhere," said Sonya Robbins, who is directing the play at Dobama. “One of my jobs is preserving the innocence and purity of Hester in a world that is more corrupt than she is."

Gringa and Welfare do not provide the only gay connection for the play, though. The play probably would never have been written were it not for one very famous gay man.

Parks took a writing class

in the early '80s taught by James Baldwin, author of the gay classic Giovanni's Room. Baldwin suggested that Parks start writing plays, and the advice has paid off handsomely for her. She has won two Obie Awards, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for In the Blood and won it for her play Topdog/Underdog, and wrote the screenplay for the Spike Lee film Girl 6.

In the Blood will be at Dobama Theatre, 1846 Coventry Rd, Cleveland Heights, through March 30, with a sign-language interpreted performance on March 21. For more information, call

216-932-3868 or go to www.dobama.org. For reservations, call 216-932-3396.

Suzan-Lori Parks