Dying Gaul Explores Cost of Doing Battle at Island City Stage

Jorge  Amador, Autumn Kioti Horne andAmir Darvish in Island City Stage’s The Dying Gaul (Photos by Dennis Dean)

By Britin Haller

Like the ancient Roman statue upon which it is named, the ending of The Dying Gaul recognizes a hard-earned victory while exploring the cost of doing battle.

Island City Stage’s Artistic Director Andy Rogow describes this play by Craig Lucas as “powerful, edgy, shocking, and tragic.” It’s all those things, and more, and will have you pondering it long after you leave the theater. But we don’t want to say too much in fear of spoilers, so we will do our best to remain cryptic.

It’s 1995 in Los Angeles, and we open on a handsome young man, and an also handsome slightly older man in an office setting. The young man with the baby face (Robert) has written a screenplay about his gay lover dying of AIDS.

Robert appears nervous and lacks confidence, and we find out he’s there to talk about a potential development deal with the bearded man (Jeffrey) who is interested in purchasing the rights to said screenplay for a large amount of money.

The only problem, and it’s a big one, is apparent homophobe Jeffrey insists the two male leads must be rewritten as a man and a woman because “No one goes to the movies to learn something.” As if that isn’t bad enough, Jeffrey uses the movie Tootsie (a man pretending to be a woman) as an example of the kind of script he’s looking for. Robert is understandably appalled, and at first he refuses, but when the carrot on the stick goes up to a cool million dollars, Robert relents and sells his screenplay, and his soul to Jeffrey, the snake charmer. In a twist that was foreshadowed so heavily a five-year-old could have seen it coming, Jeffrey then comes on to Robert sexually (“I’m getting a little turned on, are you?”), and it’s all downhill from there.

Before you can say Dustin Hoffman, Robert is talking about gardens with Jeffrey’s wife, Elaine, who has invited him to their elegant Hollywood Hills home so she can meet the young writer she has heard so much about from her husband. She’s a bored trophy wife, with screenwriting dreams of her own, who takes her own interest in Robert, but despite pre-show publicity, this is not a ménage à trois in the traditional sense, rather a volatile relationship with a married couple that is doomed to fail before it even begins.

As Robert, Jorge Amador is perfect as the tormented boy who isn’t all he appears to be. We don’t know much about him at first except he mourns his dead lover and managed to stay HIV-negative as they practiced safe sex, has an ex-wife and son he never sees, and lives in a basement apartment with maintenance issues. He’s big into Buddhism and karma which become important later. “I’m famished for distraction,” Robert says. At first glance, it’s easy to have sympathy for him, and Autumn Kioti Horne, as Jeff’s loving wife, Elaine, does just that. She takes pity on Robert, while at the same time is growing more and more intrigued by him.

Soon Robert enters into a hot torrid affair with Jeffrey, and while Elaine has always known her husband likes men, it’s never been an issue before now. After all, she has her own secret thing going on with Robert in an online chat room (so secret Robert doesn’t even know he’s speaking with her.) But when Robert reveals information Elaine doesn’t want to hear, the cat-and-mouse game changes for her in a big way, and although we can understand her frustrations, we can’t agree with her belief that, as the song goes, “you’ve gotta be cruel to be kind.” Actors Amador and Kioti Horne perform the most fascinating dance, and we hope to see more of them soon.

Amir Darvish, as Jeffrey, exudes smarm from every pore. He professes to love his wife and children, but there’s no real evidence of that. There’s nothing redeeming here, but because he’s extremely charming, it’s easy to see how Jeffrey became a successful movie producer, especially one in the 1990s. And we hate to admit it, but he is sexy in a sleezeball kind of way.

Darvish’s big moment could easily have turned into overacting, but he handled it perfectly, and despite Jeffrey’s sliminess, we do feel pity for the man who started out so in control, but ends up being irrelevant to the point of only being able to watch the train wreck, if you will, happen. Excellent work from Darvish.

There’s a fourth character in this messed-up trio, Robert’s psychiatrist, Dr. Foss, played by Ted deChatelet. We learn more about Robert through visits with Foss, things like what really happened to his dying lover on his last day, and how Robert really feels about himself. As Foss starts to put the pieces about his client together, and realizes as a doctor he’s allowed himself to get too close to this situation, he too feels things spiraling out of control around him. DeChatelet isn’t on stage much, but we take notice when he is. And not just because of his mean pair of bright purple high-top Chuck Taylor’s sneakers that we covet.

Director Michael Leeds, who has a storied career including one Tony and two Drama Desk nominations, offers us a compelling look into the consequences of free will that produces some goosebump-inducing moments, especially the one right before intermission.

Shout-outs to Alyice Moretto-Watkins for a nifty geometrical scenic design, Ardean Landhuis’s creepy lighting, and David Hart for decade-appropriate sounds. The only thing missing was the connecting noise from a dial-up modem. Remember this blast from the past?

Written by Craig Lucas, who lost his creative partner, director/producer Norman René, to AIDS in 1996, The Dying Gaul premiered off-Broadway in 1998, and drew quick praise from critics. It was later made into a rather disappointing (for some) movie, with Lucas as the director and starring Peter Sarsgaard and Patricia Clarkson.

The roots of The Dying Gaul may be in Roman history, but this is a Greek tragedy through and through, so don’t expect a neat tidy ending because what happens in the final moments will have lifelong repercussions for the ones who remain. For anyone looking for an edgy story you’ll be thinking about days later, this is it.

Britin Haller is a mystery author and an editor for Turner Publishing. Her latest short story “So Many Shores in Crookland” can be read in the 150^th issue of Black Cat Weekly. Britin’s latest edit, a cozy mystery novel called Dumpster Dying is by Michelle Bennington and available where books are sold. Find Britin across social media.

The Dying Gaul runs through June 15 at Island City Stage, 2304 N. Dixie Hwy, Wilton Manors, FL (south of Oakland Park Blvd.); Thurs at 7pm; Fri-Sat at 8pm; Matinees Sat at 2pm and Sun at 5pm; Running time approx. 125 minutes includes a 15-minute intermission. Tickets start at $50. Call 954-928-9800 or visit islandcitystage.org.