The Thing They Love - Parker Goodreau

PROGRAM NOTE

Dear Audience,

The Thing They Love follows the story of Leon, Delphi, Blue, Maggs, and Rabbit as they find their way around 1930’s New York. Half of them are struggling through the Depression while the rest are sitting pretty on some family money. This “family” of sorts finds each other by chance, with their hidden queer identities bringing them together and creating a deep bond. The group hope to avoid the tightening regulations surrounding queer individuals as they attempt to find the thing they love in an era of uncertainty. In this debut of They Thing They Love, we too find ourselves in a time of uncertainty as we search for connection amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though we are finally sitting together in a theatre again, we are unable to sit next to each other and truly connect.

The Thing They Love was written by Parker Goodreau after they read Murder Most Queer by Jordan Schildcrout. Schildcrout’s work dissects Mae West’s The Drag, a play about queer individuals and murder. West’s play was so controversial that it wasn’t staged and West was arrested because of it. Censoring a story about queer individuals is not something unfamiliar to today’s society. The Drag was described in Murder Most Queer as “the perfect play with which to begin an exploration of the amalgamation of homosexuality and homicide, especially in terms of medical, psychological and legal discourses” (16), and this inspired the course of The Thing They Love. The Drag was ahead of its time in 1927 and indicates that despite popular opinion, queer study has been ongoing for a while. Queerness is not a new identity, but the world is safer now for individuals to come out and own their identity. The world has advanced since the 1930s, but there are still many changes to be made.

“We’re just one big happy family,” Blue utters in scene four. Being queer in any age can be an incredibly lonely experience. Not being accepted by those closest to you, friends and family, and not always having people facing similar conditions is an isolating life. In the 1930’s, being queer was incredibly taboo, but that doesn’t mean that queer people didn’t exist. They existed, but were forced to hide their true selves to protect themselves from harm. Queer individuals would band together in order to create their own chosen family, a family they could be themselves in. This is the story of Leon and Delphi. The two pursued a lavender marriage, saving face and being true to themselves. A lavender marriage is the marriage of a man and women to conceal their sexual orientation of one or both members of the partnership. For Queer couples, a lavender marriage was used to avoid the social stigma against queer people. Similar to many couples in lavender marriages, Leon and Delphine pursue a lavender marriage to appease their families and keep their identities as queer individuals from society.

1930’s New York was a time of struggle for many during the Depression, yet the city was filled with queerness and the queer community had been flourishing. Massive drag balls were held with queer individuals dressing up as the opposite gender for a night. Thousands upon thousands of people could be in attendance in one night. Society quickly began to fear the growing queer community, and the government enacted a slew of regulations in the 30s’ restricting them. Queer people were forced into hiding as they desperately tried to avoid interactions with the law, knowing it would never go well. Much like Delphi, members of the queer community found themselves hiding and fearing the very people who vowed to protect them. You would think the community isolated itself. With queer individuals in hiding, how would they find one another? Quietly. Queer individuals found each other quietly. They didn’t have to announce themselves, many would just know. As Leon says, “It’s sort of a ‘takes one to know one’ situation.” Even in hiding, queer people surrounded themselves with like-minded individuals. Against all odds, the queer community continuously found a way to flourish, finding themselves amongst each other.

Exploring the need for the queer community to band together reminds us that in 2022, we still have communities in which queer individuals can go to in order to be seen and to be safe. Salem State has the SSU Alliance and the North Shore has NAGLY and the North Shore Alliance for GLBTQ Youth. These organizations allow members of the LGBTQ+ to find company in their queerness by knowing that they are not alone. They also serve to educate anyone who seeks it.

For many, the theatre too is a safe space to feel, connect and be an authentic version of ourselves. For us, the feelings of insecurity and vulnerability are washed away in the theatre. We can finally be the person we want to be. There is no hiding, there is no fear. Only love. Everyday, the theatre gives us a chance to find something new, something exciting. The theatre allows us to find the thing we love.

Welcome to our theatre, our chosen family, and we hope you enjoy The Thing They Love.

Sincerely,

Hannah Bradley and Sam Kiff, Dramaturgs For more information on local LGBTQ+ friendly communities:

NAGLY: https://www.nagly.org

The SSU Alliance: Ssualliance@gmail.com and on Facebook @ The Salem State University Alliance

Citation:

Schildcrout, Jordan. Murder Most Queer: The Homicidal Homosexual in the American Theater. Univ. of Michigan Press, 2014.

Dramaturgy Packet PDF: