Convergence-Continuum exposes gay entrapment in THE 20TH CENTURY WAY
Roy Berko
(Cleveland Critics Circle & American Theater Critics Association)
California is noted as the home of liberal beliefs and a relaxed attitude toward sex. That wasn’t always the case.
In 1914, men were arrested during a raid of the 606 Club and the 96 Club, two gay spaces that had been on the police force’s radar for some time. The bust was huge, and one of the first entrapment schemes that garnered wide press.
The Los Angeles Times and other sensationalist newspapers printed the names of the arrested men. The results of the arrests and trials were devastating. Many lives were ruined and at least one life was lost. John Lamb, a prominent Long Beach banker and Episcopal Church officer, killed himself soon after he was arrested.
The scandal, among other things, led to an ordinance against “oral sodomy” in California. That law was followed by similar laws in other states.
That tale of entrapment, and how it came about, is the basis for Tom Jacobson’s THE 20TH CENTURY WAY, now on stage at convergence-continuum, Cleveland’s “we don’t do plays that any other local theater stages.”
Yes, the artistic director of con-con, as it is referred to by its followers, prides himself on shocking his audience with his play choices. And, this play is definitely shocking.
The script tells the tale of how two out-of-work actors hired themselves out to the Long Beach Police Department. Their goal was to entrap “social vagrants” (homosexuals) in public restrooms. Their motivation? They got a fee for every “pervert” they exposed, as well as being able to play “real” policemen.
Jacobson uses a play within a play format in which the two characters are portraying trying out the entrapment roles they are to play as well as how the entrapments will take place.
The author approaches the exposition using a Pirandello type concept in which each of the characters walks the fine line between “reality, sanity and identity.”
In the script, Jacobson challenges the meaning of morality, explores sexual identity, and if it is possible to be honest and true to oneself.
The performers are required to quickly switch from being the actors who are going to do the entrapments, to being the many men who are being entrapped. Their only devices are a few costume parts, vocal changes, non-verbal alterations and lighting changes.
To make the play work requires the actors to seamlessly slip in and out of the characters. They must be totally believable and the staging must be meticulous, leaving no doubt of the realness of these men.
Con-con’s production, unfortunately, proves to be too much of a stretch for both the actors and the director.
The many line flubs broke the character development and did havoc on a lighting device that was intended to separate reality from role play. Costume changes were often awkward. The improvisational techniques, a requirement for this script, were seemingly not part of the tool chest of the cast.
Previous productions of the script have called the stagings “intriguing,” “fast-paced,” “a display of sexual tension,” “fun” and “a piece that makes us think.”
Con-con’s staging lacked in being both intriguing and fast-paced. The ninety minutes dragged into what seemed like hours. Fun? There wasn’t an audible laugh heard from the attenders. There was no sexual tension between the performers. The script did make one think.
CAPSULE JUDGMENT: The topic of THE 20TH CENTURY WAY, if, not the play’s production, should please con-con regulars. The theme is intriguing and spotlights an important moment in US history that led to many bad laws being passed, gay men being persecuted and prosecuted, and great angst. It took a late 20th century Supreme Court decision to undue the horror.
THE 20TH CENTURY WAY plays through December 18, 2021. For tickets go to www.convergence-contnuum.org
Next up at con-con: The Cleveland premiere of DOG ACT by Liz Duffy-Adams (March 25-April 16).
