As a teenage boy, your primary concerns should be:
- Your image,
- The ongoing battle against pimples and zits, and
- Thinking of sly ways to hide that your mother’s girlfriend is hotter than most of your friends.
Perhaps you don’t have to deal with the third situation, but Joe, the main character of RAISED BY LESBIANS, can’t avoid it. Most teenagers are embarrassed by their parents, but add to that Joe’s discomfort with his mother’s sexuality, and you’ve got a guy who will do just about anything to avoid any possible attention to his family. Joe’s anxiety actually stems from his own inability to accept where he is from and to be who he really is.
RAISED BY LESBIANS revolves around two central themes: acceptance and normality. Joe is dealing with the common teenage issues of growing up, creating an identity, and finding where he fits in. Joe yearns to be accepted by his peers, and thinks that living with two moms might affect his social standing in school. This leads him to consider living with his father and step-mom in a different state. By moving to his father’s house, Joe would have the opportunity to reinvent himself – and, most importantly, nobody would know about his gay mother. The meaning of “normal” is stretched to the limit when both Joe’s mother and father argue about which parental environment would be better for Joe.
The non-linear structure of RAISED BY LESBIANS is nevertheless well organized, and incorporates the present, the past (in flashbacks) and alternate realities (in dreams). I was especially impressed by Matthew Glogowski, who plays Joe. His commitment to the part creates a very authentic character. When I spoke with him after the show, he told me that he did a lot of research in order to present Joe in a realistic way. Not only did he draw from his own experiences as a teenager, but he also spoke with friends who dealt with similar issues to those faced by Joe.
I asked the director Dev Bondarin what she thought about the term “normal,” and she told me that normality is a socially constructed theme, but that does not preclude our fascination with it.
I recommend this show to everyone, but especially teenagers who imagine their parents must be the most embarrassing around.
RAISED BY LESBIANS is presented as part of FringeNYC. For more information visit www.raisedbylesbians.com
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