“Lured”: riveting play shows targeting of gays in Putin’s Russia after 2013 law
Name:“Lured“
Author: Frank J. Avella
Released: 2016
Format: stage play (official site)
When and how viewed: 2016/9/18, Theater for the New City NYC
“Lured”, by Frank J. Avella and directed by Rod Kaats, finished its run at the Theater for the New City in the East Village in New York City Sunday night.
The brief (one hour) riveting play portrays the violence on gay men inspired by Russia’s “anti-gay propaganda law” passed in 2013.
The play comprises three scenes. The middle scene occurs earlier, before the law was passed.
In the first scene, an oafish man is tortured after being lured by a sex ad. A woman joins the torture.
The second scene presents more physically attractive characters, as the tormentor actually seems attracted to the young man he is kneading and undressing. It would be nice if the young man were facing the audience. But a female raves about who gay lifestyles undermine the culture and future of Mother Russia. This is obviously a reference to Russia’s low birthrate, and Putin’s idea that gay men will encourage other men to have fewer kids. The play also often refers to irrational beliefs that gay men prefer minors.
The last scene returns the characters from the opening movement. The two women create a confrontation, as the oafish man bleeds to death in a bathtub. The law seems to encourage police to look the other way, but the characters wonder whether to seek help after all.
I can throw cold water on the premise of the play. Did the victims behave recklessly in responding to ads? Or did they actually pick people up in bars who had disguised themselves as gay. That’s always been rare in the U.S., but maybe it happens in Russia.
The cast includes Cameron August, John Ball, Carlotta Brentan, Cali Gilman, Brian Patterson, Dave Stishan, and Ian Whitt.
After the play, the actors and a party at Pinks, a nearby bar. Later, at the nearby Bean, I met a screenwriter who showed me a script “Shared Needles”. The ultimate indie film. I recall doing table readings in Minneapolis, and attending formal readings of proposed films at the Jungle Theater on Lyndale in Minneapolis, back in 2002-2003.
(Posted: Monday, September 19, 2016 at 10 AM EDT)