A-LISTS theatre MEET
POSTER BOYS SEX, LOVE AND FAITH by randy hope
he mid-level stage scene in San Diego continues to grow and thrive as the Diversionary Theatre teams up with MOXIE Theatre to bring the first play of its season—Poster Boys—to the stage this month. While it’s a drama, it is not without its share of humor and clever marketing techniques for selling you a product you
didn’t know you needed. In the short sound-bite world of celebrity, botox and breast implants, Caroline, a 40-some- thing ad executive, is losing her footing. When she’s hired to create a queer-positive ad campaign, the models turn out to be her ex-fiancée Jack and his new boyfriend Carson, a devout Catholic. Sparks fly, and the debate heats up as the unlikely trio suddenly find themselves in the midst of controversy, forced to confront their beliefs and motives—all in the media spotlight. As billboards boast slogans, buzzwords and brand loyalty, perhaps that’s just what John Alexander is doing as he
recently moved back to San Diego taking on the task of executive director at Diversionary. “It’s changed a lot here since 2002, but there’s a lot of good stuff that’s happened.” Before bringing the true-life tale of playwright Michele Riml’s sordid past to the Diversionary Theatre’s stage,
Alexander first noted how wonderful it is to be working in collaboration with the folks at MOXIE Theatre. “It’s great to be working with Delicia [Turner-Sonnenburg], she’s a talented director and MOXIE is a terrific group of people to work with on such a production. The play in particular does one of my favorite things, and that is that it deals with a very difficult subject we don’t always like to talk about, with a bit of comedy and humor, so that is always fun.” Alexander continues, “I think the playwright has done an amazingly effective job at that and I think it’s a very cool thing to do, because we talk about our mission at Diversionary being one that ties in plays for the LGBT community, from the LGBT community and then out to the broader community as a whole.” The vision of the theatre is to produce plays with LGBT themes that portray characters in all their complexity and
diversity both historically and contemporarily, while providing a home and venue for the remarkable talents of the San Diego’s theater professionals. “Poster Boys does just this but from a different angle,” Alexander quips. “It takes the perspective of the protagonist as the main character being a straight woman, and tells the story of how she deals with it and with our community.” “It’s kind of a complicated play,” he admits, but he assures the playwright has done an “amazingly effective job”
at capturing whole story. “It’s also about how two gay men define themselves on the journey of being in a married relationship and loving each other, but having very different ideas about what it is to be gay in the world today.” Keep- ing great marketing in mind, the successful advertiser concludes, “It’s interesting that the last play of the new season also deals with that subject, but delves deeper into the outlook of how two people can love each other, not just from different beliefs but from different spiritual beliefs…” Or is it?!
Poster Boys opens at the Diversionary Theatre Saturday, July 9 and runs every Thursday through Sunday in July. Tickets are $20. Tickets are available by calling 619.220.0097 or visiting
diversionary.org. Diversionary Theatre is located at 4545 Park Boulevard in University Heights.
MEET
MICHELE RIML Michele Riml is a critically acclaimed playwright from Vancouver, British Columbia. Her plays have been produced across Canada and in the U.S. in- cluding The Old Globe Theatre, The Grand, the Arts Club Theatre, the Belfry and The Hayworth Theatre (Los Angeles). Her plays include Miss Teen, Under The Influence, RAGE (winner of the 2005 Sydney Risk prize for Outstanding Original Play) and the acclaimed Poster Boys, which premiered at the Arts Club Theatre in 2008. Her plays for young audi- ences, commissioned by Green Thumb Theatre for Young People, include Cool, Invisible Girl, The Skinny Lie and Tree Boy. Michele was nominated for the 2008 Siminovitch Prize.
DELICIA TURNER SONNENBERG Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg is a founding mem- ber and artistic director of MOXIE Theatre. She previously worked as Artistic Associate for San Diego Repertory Theatre as a part of the TCG’s New Generations Program: Future Leaders. Delicia was twice a recipient of the Van Lier Directing Fel- lowship in New York and is an alumna of the New York Drama League’s Directors Program. She has worked as a director in California, New York and Texas. Some San Diego directing credits include the award winning productions of Dog Act, Kim- berly Akimbo, Fit to be Tied, Tales from the Far Side of Fifty, Proof, as well as Solaces’ Antigone, Euripides’ Children of Heracles, and many plays for the Play- wrights Project. She is married to designer Jerry Sonnenberg and proud mama of Zoë and August.
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RAGE monthly | JULY 2011
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