More a playful romp around the issue of masculinity than a turgid study of broken men, FAG/STAG is a comedy that looks at the relationship between a straight guy and a gay guy. This season at Griffin’s Stables Theatre is the Sydney premier, after successful runs in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Edinburgh Fringe, winning awards all along the way.
FAG/STAG is a snapshot of two guys set in Perth in 2015; the gay guy Jimmy (Jeffrey Jay Fowler) and the straight guy Corgan (Chris Isaacs) are best friends. It looks at a month in their life, during their late 20s, as they are trying to get their shit together before a friend’s wedding. For the straight guy, it’s the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, for the gay guy, it’s the wedding of the girl he went on a date with when he was a teenage boy and subsequently recognised he was not straight.
The predominant theme is the fear men have about relating to each other, but it also looks at internalised homophobia, heteronormative behaviour, the desire to be different, how men feel about themselves, their vulnerability and how they have to cover that up and importantly about how growing up in Perth had a sense of isolation,
“When I was 24, I moved to Sydney to study at NIDA and I saw men holding hands in public for the first time; I’d never seen that in Perth. I realised how different Perth was and how that affected my psyche,” revealed co-playwright and actor Jeffrey Jay Fowler, who explained the play is autobiographical with a lot of content from their own lives, but also has a level of fictionality, with stories borrowed from friends.
Jan 10-27. SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross. $20-$35+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.griffintheatre.com.au or Ph: 9361 3817
By Mel Somerville.
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