A Beauty Myth

Research shows that internalized homophobia can be responsible for risky behaviors, like meth use, and consequently for rising numbers of HIV infections among gay men. Some might say, well, duh. More constructively, the Philadelphia physical theater company Hotel Obligado responds to the situation with Beauty Is. By using movement instead of words to convey the players' emotions, the company's Web site says, the production evokes the world of "Tina" users. We're going to guess a lot of that movement is ... rushed. The show is written, choreographed, and generally put together by San Franciscan Matthew Graham Smith, and afterwards, people from Tweaker.org, the Stonewall Project, and the Stop AIDS Project are on hand to answer questions.
Jan. 24-Feb. 2, 8 p.m., 2008