How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
Repression and rebellion run through the veins of "The Pride," Alexi Kaye Campbell's impressive and darkly comic debut. The play explores gay identity in London, switching between past and present.
Oliver (Ben Whishaw), a lonely author of children's books and the heart of the story, is played with remarkable empathy by the actor who also played John Keats in "Bright Star." In 1958, he becomes involved in an illicit love affair with Philip (Hugh Dancy), the husband of his illustrator Sylvia (Andrea Riseborough).
But that's only half the story. The other part of it, interspersed throughout, shows these same people in the present and imagines what it would be like for them to live today, at the same age they were in 1958. Philip has just broken up with Oliver because of his habit of having sex with strangers. Sylvia provides the voice of reason as Oliver's best friend.
While a story of repression and liberation may sound familiar, here the two vastly different eras are juxtaposed in eye-opening ways, providing plenty of thought-provoking material to chew on — concerning marriage, repression, liberation and everything in between — after the show is over. Oliver's sexual addiction is extremely self-destructive. He can't stop, even though he loves Philip. Philip is hurt most by the fact that Oliver doesn't know whose dick he's sucking. In fact, not knowing kind of turns him on.
This time-warp drama comes from an award-winning 2008 run across the pond, and its accolades are understandable. The story may deal heavily with romance, but it's anything but banal. Its structure is fresh, innovative and invigorating. In an interesting artistic choice, characters from different eras sometimes share the stage before they transition, and when they shift it's fascinating to see how they take an emotion from one scene and carry it into the next. Little touches such as accent and posture are different as well, and Riseborough is adept at making these seamless transitions and being completely believable in both roles. Prolific Broadway director Joe Mantello oversees this composed production, which might even be a little too neat.
Hope shines through at a gay pride event set in the present (which is described as a demonstration, a celebration and a fashion show). Oliver talks about the significant strides gay people have made in recent years, after being mute for hundreds of years. It's Campbell's tentative optimism that sustains the characters in the play, even as their worlds go to pieces.
"The Pride" is playing at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher St.) through March 28. Tickets ($15—$95) are available at ticketcentral.com or by calling 212.279.4200.
