RAISED BY LESBIANS

BY ROBERT SMITH

As a teenage boy, your primary concerns should be:

1. Your image,
2. The ongoing battle against pimples and zits, and
3. 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

CLONE

BY ROBERT SMITH

Imagine that one day you open your eyes and see an exact image of yourself. And you’re not looking in a mirror. Would you freak out? Ah…yeah! Faint? You bet! Think of devious ways to have an easier life from now on? That’s only the beginning!

Clone is a play about a lonely and unproductive writer named John who orders a clone of himself for a bit of entertainment. The play opens with John 1 (Christopher Loar) and John 2 (Aaron Hodges) onstage, making identical movements and gestures. Looking at his clone with both fright and amazement, John 1 reads the accompanying instructions. This scene was interesting because it showed the actors ability and range as they effectively made their movements as if they were in front of a mirror.

In order to test the clone, John 1 asks the clone questions that only the real John would know. To his surprise and joy, John 2 knows the exact answers, so John 1 sends John 2 to take his place at work. Things are going well for the two until John 2 begins to scheme ways to kill his owner and live life among the real.

I liked Clone because it was new and fresh with raw humor. The dialogue sounded like a real conversation and the jokes were natural. The coolest part of the play was watching two actors play the same character at the same time.

I wasn’t entirely sure what the overall message was, but I have an idea. I think that Christopher Loar was trying to convey that life is boring and you need a clone in order to have fun.

Just kidding! I think Loar is saying that you are the only one who can live your life.

Clone is a Conlab production that was written by Christopher Loar and directed by Rafael Gallegos. For more information click here.