Play review – “Boys in the Band” by Mart Crowley

Picked a paperback novel copy of this play – how cool is that? Plays as paperback novels. (I know they publish plays as soft covers now, but this one is the size of a book – more pages, like a pulpy novel.) One of the reviews quoted on the back says that up until this play homosexuals were treated like clichés; this play established what would become clichés as the “gay play” became a fixture on Broadway: the bitchy queens; the references to Maria Montez, Carmen Miranda, etc; the dumb hustler who is just so gorgeous; the married man in denial; the token black. But it remains very funny with lots of great roles. It’s also dramatically very sound – taking place on the night of a birthday party; the late arrival of the birthday boy, the early arrival of the married man who claims his straight, the phone call game (this must be incredibly effective on stage).