An evening of gay theater

I was able to get to Ann Arbor last evening (before a forecast snowstorm) to see the new play Geoffrey and Jeffrey by Kin Carney at Performance Network Theatre. The two men of the title are a gay couple just celebrating their 25th anniversary of being together. They run a coffee shop in Ann Arbor. They are visited by two women who claim to be the daughter and granddaughter of one of the men. The play was up to the theater's usual high standards, though the mother was played by a substitute who hadn't quite memorized her lines and carried a script with her (with such a small theater they may not have understudies). Even so, she did a great job acting.

I wasn't so sure I liked the play during the first act because the two men were bickering like an old couple and each threatening to walk out on the other. I didn't see a whole lot of love between them, I only saw a long history. However, during the second act, once the reasons for the turmoil are revealed and examined they showed they really were a loving gay couple.

Performance Network is pretty good at producing new plays that have legs, so this one may have life outside Ann Arbor. For once I didn't see the last show. It runs one more weekend.