The Dying Gaul

Seemingly haunted by the success of his two earlier plays, Longtime Companionand Prelude to a Kiss, Craig Lucas wrote The Dying Gaulin 12 days in 1996. The play, in a modest presentation by Last Planet Theater under the direction of John Wilkins, focuses on a gay screenwriter, Robert (Cody Bayne), who sells his film script about a gay couple dealing with AIDS, also called The Dying Gaul, for $1 million to an unscrupulous producer. The producer, Jeffrey (Matt Leshinskie), predictably has Robert rewrite it, because he thinks movies about gay people don't sell. The autobiographical perspective is obvious, but Lucas pushes the envelope by creating victims who are not redeemed -- who are not, as Lucas says, "ennobled by their suffering." Robert has just lost his lover to AIDS. Both bereaved and seeking justification for his new wealth, he latches onto Jeffrey and his wife, Elaine (Sarah Neal), drinking vodka and teaching Elaine how to get into sexy AOL chat rooms. Robert and Jeffrey soon begin an affair, and the suspecting Elaine finds Robert online. Using the screen name Arckangell and documents stolen from Robert's psychiatrist, Dr. Foss (Stig Kreps), Elaine first seduces Robert and then bewilders him with her knowledge of the details of his relationships. He concludes that he's talking to some incarnation of his dead lover, and divulges the details of his affair with Jeffrey to her. Both Elaine and Robert meet violent ends, leaving us questioning who is victim and who enemy. Lucas' play has some flaws, the most noticeable of which is a scene in which Arckangell's identity should be obvious to Robert, breaking down the believability. But the cast attacks the play with enthusiasm. Neal is equally conniving and seductive, while Bayne handles Robert's nuances well. Leshinskie's Jeffrey proves too humorous, though: His anger provokes laughs rather than tension (which would benefit some scenes). Wilkins' direction has some good moments, including frenetic scene changes to music by Nino Rota (Fellini's composer) and an effective, if overused, strobe light during the chat room scenes. Wilkins is good at presenting an overall picture, but this production could use an exploration of the more subtle moments.