Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays – Before And After “I Do”
by Karen Tortora-Lee on November 14, 2011
Heading into the new play written by an “A-list lineup of writers with 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 4 Obies, 1 Emmy® and 3 Tony® nominations” I expected that the evening would make me laugh … but not till my sides hurt. I expected to be moved … but not to tears. Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays manages to take a controversial topic and give it a 360; some aspects are made endearingly simple yet never does this show shy away from the frustration and confusion that the issue of gay marriage brings with it. What Standing On Ceremony does so elegantly is show how gay marriage is just as easy as, just as complicated as, just as worthy as, just as demanding as, just the same as, and completely different from straight marriage. There are no two marriages on this earth that are the same because there are as many ways to live on this earth as there are human beings. The two people who join their lives together define what makes the union – the two personalities melding together will create the new whole. Gay, straight – these issue and roadblocks, these milestones and hurdles are to be celebrated together. That is what defines a marriage. Standing On Ceremony explores this brilliantly.
Ultimately there will be a revolving cast with writers offering up different material so your experience may vary. Currently the show is featuring ‘The Revision‘ by Jordan Harrison, ‘This Flight Tonight‘ by Wendy MacLeod, ‘On Facebook‘ by Doug Wright, ‘My Husband‘ by Paul Rudnick,’Traditional Wedding‘ by Mo Gaffney, ‘Strange Fruit‘ by Neil LaBute, ‘The Gay Agenda‘ by Paul Rudnick, ‘London Mosquitoes‘ by Moisés Kaufman and ‘Pablo and Andrew at the Altar of Words‘ by Jose Rivera.
