Review // Becoming a Man at the American Repertory Theater
Review // Becoming a Man at the American Repertory Theater

Review // Becoming a Man at the American Repertory Theater

I saw the world premiere run of Becoming a Man at the American Repertory Theater in Harvard Square and found it to be an engrossing, heartwarming, and eye opening, albeit short play, about different types of transitions. Becoming a Man is essentially a one act play with a 20-minute second act that involves a facilitated discussion with the audience.

The play was written by P. Carl and Directed by Diane Paulus and P. Carl. It has a small cast of only 6 actors who portray over a dozen characters, with some actors rotating in and out of characters for just one scene. The play was introduced by two students from the A.R.T. learning lab who attend local school in what is being called a “radical welcome.”

Becoming a Man tells the story of Carl, a trans man who transitions in his fifties after living life as a queer woman while building an academic career and nurturing a long-term marriage. It’s a non-linear story that simultaneously explores Carl’s life before, during, and after a transition that puts everything at stake.

It asks the question “When we change, can the people we love come with us?” The cast consisted of only 6 people but they did a lot of heavy lifting with many of them playing multiple characters. The actress who portrayed Lynette, Carl’s wife, stood out as particularly intense and believable.

The lead actor, Petey Gibson, who played Carl did a great job carrying the production through the various timelines. Stacey Redmond put out a powerful performance as Polly. The remaining performers were versatile in their various roles and kept the play running smoothly. The stage design was innovative and interesting with 2 giant rotating screens that showed pictures from different times in Carl’s life. The script was clever and insightful, really diving into some of the issues that people face when they transition.

The conversations that resulted during the second act were meaningful and rich. I was concerned when I heard a microphone would be passed around to audience members that things would go awry. Who hasn’t been in an audience full of sci fi convention nerds who feel the need to say the most cringeworthy things into the mic just to prove how much they know about the subject matter?

But my fears were quickly laid to rest because the people brave enough to speak were all thoughtful and vulnerable and stayed on topic. Each discussion is led by a different moderator and this evening it was Dan Rice, a trans rights educator and activist. Dan did a remarkable job of keeping the conversation moving while peppering it with remarkably unguarded personal commentary. One of the audience members stood up at the very end and said, “My favorite moment was right now hearing everyone’s stories and being a part of the community.”

There was one issue with the play. Apparently, Carl was in his 50’s when he transitioned, but the actor who plays Carl is significantly younger than that. I heard people discussing how confusing the age issue was for them in the lobby after the performance. The audience was supposed to put Carl’s age together based on context clues such as a 20-year relationship, but it wasn’t quite enough to get the point across.

It’s no small feat to produce a piece of art that night after night brings forth a community of people, bonded by what they have just experienced, who are willing to openly discuss their feelings about the work in a radically honest way. The American Repertory Theater has something special on their hands in Becoming a Man–its cutting-edge theater. From the radical welcome to the play itself, to the discussion at the end, this is an experience that is perfectly crafted to get people talking and to take something profound away from the experience.

 

 

 


Discover more from I Heart Noise

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments