LA Report: The New Hollywood Normal -- Playwright David Wally on gays, straights and the US of Alienation

Gay characters onscreen and onstage and their celluloid and stage stereotypes have run the gamut: from the closeted (Rock Hudson off-screen) to the limp-wristed sissy (Franklin Pangborn on-screen) and the butch bitch (Honor Blackman very much on-screen as Pussy Galore in 1964's Goldfinger), and so on. When LGBT dramatis personae have been acknowledged as such, their sexual preference has largely defined them, especially in works by straight screenwriters and playwrights.

Today, though, things are changing. Call it the New Hollywood Normal that screenwriters and playwrights are no longer pigeonholing characters as types, rather are texturing their sexuality as one of many facets of their characters. Just this summer Annette Bening and Julianne Moore play complicated lesbian parents in The Kids Are All Right and come this fall Jim Carrey plays a con-man (who happens to be gay) in I Love You, Phillip Morris opposite Ewan MacGregor.

One such dramatist who represents this new model is David Wally, a movie producer (Meet Joe Black, Hostage) and playwright whose works feature same sex couples that are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of his plots. (For the record, Wally is straight, but has a gay connection with his lesbian sister, with whom he is close.)

In his dramedies, including Six Degrees of Fornication, What's on My Mind? (a 10 minute short piece that's part of Quickies T(h)ree) and IN & OUT: The US of Alienation, same sex couples are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of his plots. The three pieces have been presented at L.A.'s Whitefire Theatre, where the latter two dramas/comedies are still being performed.

IN & OUT: The US of Alienation has seven vignettes that are linked not so much by characters (although some may recur) but more by theme. The play's title may be a reference to a bawdy term for sexual intercourse (or, for all I know, a hamburger joint), and the capitalization of the words The US of Alienation cleverly suggests U.S.A. Like a latter day Albert Camus or Jean-Paul Sartre, writer/director/producer Wally explores the distances that divide us, the spaces that separate, and may be suggesting that this estrangement in a malignly indifferent universe could spell America's Gotterdammerung. Is IN & OUT: The US of Alienation about the end of civilization as we know it? In this candid interview Wally discusses defending gay rights offstage, dramatizing gay issues onstage and whether there is a doomsday message in his play.

On Prop 8?

EDGE: You mentioned that you have a lesbian sister who is married in California. What is your position on gay rights and Proposition 8?

David Wally: As a life-long Liberal, activist and artist, one of the most important issues to me is human rights. I passionately believe in the notion that all PEOPLE are created equally. Our founding fathers were wise men, but they did not get everything exactly right at the outset - particularly in regards to women, people of color and members of the LGBT community. Over time, our country has continued to progress but we still have a way to go.

It is my belief that THE equal rights issue of our time pertains to the LGBT community. Gays and lesbians are still treated as second-class citizens by far too many in our country and there are too many laws on the books that treat the LGBT community as less than equal. This is morally reprehensible. Nobody in our society should be denied equal rights under the law.

Most specifically, I have been an outspoken critic of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and "The Defense of Marriage Act". I campaigned strongly in opposition to Prop 8, giving my voice, time and money. When I voiced my opposition to Prop 8 back in 2008, I wrote: "If you judge a gay or lesbian person to be somehow deviant or abnormal or inferior to you, then I implore you to look deep within your soul."

And I mentioned my sister Lisa, who is a lesbian. "She did choose to enter into a relationship with a wonderful woman named Eileen. They did choose to build a life together. They did choose to have a baby (and my brilliant niece is now six years old). They did choose, after nineteen years together, to marry last month - exercising this equal right at long last provided them by the California Supreme Court; exercising the same equal right my wife and I were afforded ourselves nineteen years ago.

"They did not choose to be lesbians. They simply are lesbians.

"Their choice was to exercise their equal right to marry in the state of California and to be afforded all the same equal rights under the law that those of us who are straight enjoy...

"The only affect their marriage has had on my marriage is that my wife and I are simply overjoyed that Lisa and Eileen had the most beautiful wedding imaginable, surrounded by family and friends from every possible segment of our society (young and old, gay and straight, liberal and conservative, black and white), and that they now - at long last - enjoy the same rights that my wife and I have as the result of our marriage...

"What possible right do the voters of California have to deny them their equal rights?"

Changing hearts and minds

EDGE: Your plays Six Degrees of Fornication, In & Out, the US of Alienation and What's on My Mind? include gay characters and relationships. Why?

David Wally: Those of us who live on the coasts or in big cities or pursue artistic endeavors have known many gay people throughout our lives. We take if for granted that EVERYBODY knows gay people, who are not in the closet, and that EVERYBODY knows from personal experience that gays and lesbians are every bit as "normal" as straight people.

But I have also spent a considerable amount of time in the middle of the country and in rural areas and have many Conservative friends and family members. And I know this is not the case.

It is my belief that, in many (if not most) cases, the opposition to gay rights exists because such people simply have a lack of information or have been exposed to an overabundance of misinformation. They have not encountered or worked alongside gay people. They have not had a family member who is gay. And they have had their brains filled with hateful garbage in their churches, homes and workplaces.

And so, I believe that the way to change hearts and minds is to paint a different picture for such people. With that in mind, in concert with my activism, I have also chosen to include gay characters in my plays and screenplays as well. And I do not try to portray LGBT characters as any more or less noble than my straight characters. I try to paint them as every bit as normal as straight people. Every bit our equal.

In my last play, Six Degrees of Fornication, I looked at a group of characters who were all connected in some way or another. Some were older, some were younger. Some were male, some were female. Some were black, some were white. Some were gay, some were straight. In all instances, the characters had some measure of dysfunction in their personal lives that were manifested in their sexual relationships. Some used sex to make money, some used sex to gain power, some used sex to mask insecurities, some used sex for pure carnal pleasure, some used sex to salve their pain, some used sex to fill a void, some used sex to express their love. But nobody knew each other's shit. Each of them was simply trying to make a human connection. And, as one lesbian character says to her straight male john (who has fallen in love with her in spite of ALSO loving his new wife), "Everybody lies in bed."

In [Fornication], two lesbians were at the center of the story. Both of them were - like the straight characters - hiding the truth from each other. One had slept with her brother's fiancee on the eve of their wedding; the other has been living a secret life as a call girl. Their relationship is damaged by the former revelation, but the two women find their way to forgiveness and reconciliation - even though the latter revelation is never exposed. Life is complex. And, at the end of the play, we are hopeful for this couple. But we also know that some secrets remain like clouds over their relationship, threatening a future storm.

In my current play, IN & OUT: The US of Alienation, I chose to handle this topic a bit differently. The play is about the horrendous state of personal interaction in our society. As "Malcolm" says, "Discourse is dead. Civility is dead. How can we have civilization without civility." Throughout the play, we see examples of the horrible way people interact with each other - in the workplace, at home, at bars, in the park. And then, at the end of the play, "Malcolm" finally finds himself having a pleasant, civil, thoughtful conversation with "Molly" - an attractive young woman who is waiting for somebody to join her picnic. "Malcolm" is (as cast) an older black man who has moved from L.A. to the South; and "Molly" (as cast) is a younger white woman who has moved from Indiana to L.A. In their interaction, the two characters have a connection that has fits and starts, but is ultimately quite charming and meaningful.

And then the person "Molly" was waiting for arrives - "Kristen", her girlfriend. It just so happens that "Molly" is a lesbian. There is no significance to her sexual orientation. She simply is a lesbian. It is completely normal. It is done without fanfare. And this - for me - was a very important statement to make - by NOT underlining or giving "meaning" to her sexual orientation, I was able to articulate how very normal and unthreatening it was.

In my short play What's on My Mind? (part of Quickies T(h)ree, currently running at the Whitefire on Friday nights), the main character, "Tommy" scrolls through his Facebook Wall, while waiting for a friend in the park. He ends up engaging with six of his Friends (who are familiar Facebook archetypes to most all of us): Game Girl Gloria, Swiss Chris, Family Friendly Fran, Sports Fan Stan, Tea Party Patty and El Gee Bee Tee (LGBT). Each of these characters POKE and prod at "Tommy" throughout the play, whether spouting inanities or arguing sports or attempting to engage him in meaningless games or arguing the Right or Left side of political issues or trying to play peacemaker.

In El Gee Bee Tee, I have given voice to the LGBT community who share my advocacy of gay rights issues but disagree with me on the best road map to success. LGBT is ardent in his activism and frustrated by the level of support by the current administration. Though I do not share LGBT's level of frustration and mistrust, I do understand and appreciate where this viewpoint is coming from and I have given this perspective a solid voice in this new play.

At the end of the day, in all of my recent plays, I have been trying to get at the notion that we are all in this together. We all have our faults, we all have our virtues. And we should treat each other with more respect, and show more kindness and tolerance.

As Ted says in Scene Four of IN & OUT: "Girls, girls - You're both pretty. Can't we all just get along?" Obviously, I want the audience to chew on this question and come to their own conclusion, but I am happy to take you into my own thinking...

A doomsday vision?

EDGE: IN & OUT: The US of Alienation seems to have a dark sense of foreboding for America and where we're going.

David Wally: We start with the title - "IN & OUT: The US of Alienation". A fun title. But what I'm getting after is the internal and external manifestations of the horrendous state of human interaction in our society. In the political and religious arenas, at home and at work, on the Internet and on the interstate. Our country seems to have lost the ability to treat each other respectfully and with civility. As "Malcolm" opines in Scene Four - "Discourse is dead. Civility is dead. How can we have civilization without civilty."

And this toxic interaction alienates all of us from each other. We do not give people who disagree with us the benefit of the doubt. We simply treat them as our enemy for their beliefs and allegiances. It is the big wedge that is ever cleaving our country in two. And, too often, we have largely become alienated from people who once were beloved friends or family or co-workers.

So... In the play, you may have noticed a black briefcase. It is in every scene and it moves with every scene change. No character seems to notice the briefcase, nor does any character touch the briefcase until the final scene. When Malcolm (who works for the Centers for Disease Control) pulls out his card and hands it to Molly.

When we first meet Malcolm in Scene Four, he seems like a bit of an oddball, strangely obsessed with what makes the other two boorish Masters of the Universe tick. Why do they hold certain allegiances, why do they invest such passion in them, why do they allow these "flags they wave" to drive them to "us vs. them" conflict? Malcolm becomes obsessed with finding consensus on at least one issue, as if that act might just be a building block to... something better.

And then, when we see Malcolm again in Scene Seven, he seems more subdued. Almost resigned and accepting of his "fate". But then he engages with a breath of fresh air, Molly. Though their conversation almost derails when he unintentionally diminishes her position in life ("are you a secretary") and when she misinterprets why he gave her his business card ("I thought it was pretty obvious I was waiting for somebody"), he finally has that civil interaction he has yearned for.

And Molly actually helps Malcolm to understand what it all adds up to - when facing certain death (in the movies), people are "just trying to get to the people they love. You know? They'd rather be with the people they love than die alone." Malcolm asks Molly where she would go if she knew "an asteroid" was to come wipe us all out. She suggests the Great Barrier Reef or Yosemite. Upon exiting, Malcolm oddly and intently suggests "Yosemite is beautiful this time of year." His behavior is so odd that Kristen thinks he is from The Twilight Zone. But when Molly learns that Malcolm works for the CDC, she reflects back over their conversation - was he just a harmless lonely guy? Or does he know something we don't know? When Kristen asks Molly what she wants to do this weekend, Molly replies, "It doesn't matter. As long as I'm with you."

EDGE: Is IN & OUT: The US of Alienation a premonition of apocalypse soon?

David Wally: And so... What does that all add up to? For Molly, and for the audience? As I said, I think "the meaning" is for the audience to chew over individually -- and I frankly love hearing people debating and arguing what the black briefcase represented, what did the last scene meant, why did Wally close with R.E.M.'s It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)?

My hope is that people will reason their way to the metaphor (the briefcase represents the "disease" that is all around us, even if it goes noticed) and the allegory (that if our existence were to end tomorrow, where would we go and what would we do?). And the answer they would arrive at on their own, I am hoping, is that we would want to live our lives positively, civilly, and with the ones we love. And if we can do that, the rest will not matter - as long as we are with the ones we love.

I do not see the end of the play as doomsday. But I do think our society is on the rocks and in need of a wake-up call. This is what I am trying to provide in my teensy-weensy corner of the universe. I am trying to provoke my audience to discover the "antidote" to that poison.

IN & OUT: The US of Alienation is being performed on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. through Sept. 14 at the Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. For more info: (310)526-3039; www.whitefiretheatre.com; [email protected].