Reviews for Actor's Book of Gay and Lesbian Plays

The average rating for Actor's Book of Gay and Lesbian Plays based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-11-03 00:00:00 Jerr Affer It is very rare that I find more than one or two plays that I like or that move me in any given collection, but the plays in this anthology are among the most lyrical, heartbreaking, funny, and intelligent I have ever read. So many are nearly unbearably painful, which isn't surprising given how gay, lesbian, and bisexual people have have been made to suffer over the centuries. Why We Have a Body is one of my favorite plays of all time (and I once had the pleasure of performing it). Other favorites here include Dog Opera, What Are Tuesdays Like?, The Stand In, Lonely Planet, Brave Smiles... Another Lesbian Tragedy... oh heck, I loved nearly all of them! (Though I was less impressed with the brief one-acts).

Review # 2 was written on 2018-10-03 00:00:00 Scott Cummings This is a good collection of short and full plays. Prior to getting this I had only read "The Baltimore Waltz" (included in the collection) and found myself laughing and feeling sad at the various scenes inside. "What are Tuesdays Like?" gives outsiders a glimpse inside an AIDS treatment clinic and how patients could interact with each other during their stressful situation. "The Stand In" is rather humorous despite it's biting irony of what happens when a well-known celebrity hides his homosexuality. I especially liked "It's Our Town, Too" because of its modern take on the old high school stage stand-by of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town". Other contributors are Claire Chafee, Constance Congdon, Steven Dietz, Linda Eisenstein, the Five Lesbian Brothers, Eric Lane, Craig Lucas, Cherrie Moraga, Ron Nyswaner, Joe Pintauro, Edwin Sanchez, Will Scheffer, and Shay Youngblood. Gay or straight, thespian or audience member, it doesn't matter. This is definitely worth picking up and reading.