Gay play set for OKC premiere this weekend
POSTED: Wednesday, Oct 10, 8:18 PM
by Michael Bratcher
Staff Writer
What do you get when you cross Martha Stewart's Living magazine, a pair of handcuffs and two gay men trapped on a tropical island? A zany adventure riddled with multiple personalities set to take the stage this weekend at the city's IAO Performance Gallery, 811 N Broadway.
Ragged Blade will present an all new version of "Love of Last Resort" at the gallery at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The production, written by Jerry Rabushka, will star Zach Jett and Scot Nicholas Mueller.
The plot centers on Josh, who has been stranded alone on a tropical island for three years, and Matt, who washes up on the shore after escaping an oversexed pleasure cruise. As luck – and convenience – would have it, both men are gay.
Josh has survived his stay on the island by living his life as four different television personalities, changing his name on a whim, and following the sage advice found in the pages of Stewart's magazine. Meanwhile, Matt finds Josh's personalities as an escape from the past rather than a way to deal with what's behind him.
As Rabushka explains, Josh has his eyes set on Matt, but Matt is hung up on someone from his past – and also perceives he is viewed by Josh as simply a last resort.
The production premiered in West Hollywood, Calf., and also has been produced in Tulsa, Springfield, Mo., and St. Louis. The production company previously brought "Somebody Else's Life," "Woof! The Road Show" and "Gay Christian, Gay Muslim, Gay Jew" to Oklahoma City.
Rabushka's latest production, which has been rewritten and will be performed in Oklahoma City for the first time, stemmed from a LGBT group in Springfield that requested he work up a show for them. He said setting the play on a deserted tropical island helped make the cast of two more believable.
"Then I figured, hey, the guys need a way to have a few modern conveniences, and well, who better than Martha Stewart to show them how to make something out of nothing?" Rabushka told HNOKC.COM. "So that became the big 'in-joke' of the play, was how they created a great quality of life by reading some leftover copies of Martha Stewart Living that someone had brought to their island previously."
Rabushka says the show has a nice combination of comedy, romance and
drama, and that the characters come off as people the audience can
root for.
"A lot of people can relate to the issues Josh and Matt have in trying to understand each other and define themselves, and ultimately to believe that they are worthy of love and being loved," he said.
One reviewer referred to the play as "courage in the face of love." And as Rabushka puts it, it's about accepting who you are and who someone else is, not punishing the new person in your life for the sins of people who have come before you.
"No matter what's happened to you in the past, it really is OK to be happy … you shouldn't have to pay a price for having love and happiness in your life," he said.
The intimate setting of the IAO gallery let's the audience in on the show, he says, because you're just a few feet from the action.
"A lot of people have only seen the 'big' productions where there are several hundred or thousands of people, and this is a whole different type of production. You're a lot closer to the action, you can see faces and expressions and nuance. I do want to thank the IAO for their support, this is our fourth trip there, and they've been really great to work with," Rabushka said.
LOVE OF LAST RESORT
Oct. 12 and 13
8 p.m.
IAO Performance Gallery, 811 N Broadway
