Tri-City native Doric Wilson found his writing niche in New York City a
half-century ago.
Though
his playwriting has been well received on off-Broadway productions for
many years, one of his plays is packing a punch half a world away.
A
Perfect Relationship is having a stirring effect on the human rights
movement in New Delhi, India, where the production opened about a year
ago.
The play focuses on the gay lifestyle, which presents a
problem in India. Archaic Indian penal code makes it a crime to engage
in homosexual activity, explained the play's director, Sameer Thakur,
in an e-mail to the Herald this week.
"We chose to bring this play to the Indian stage, especially at this
time, because it is relevant in the context of a litigation at the
Delhi high court against section 377 of the Indian penal code," he
said.
In addition, the gay rights movement in India has picked up momentum over the
last few years, he added.
"We
had our first gay pride in Delhi last year and the second one is
scheduled for June 29," Thakur said. "There have been other plays and
even Bollywood films with gay characters in them. However, most
portrayals of gay persons have been stereotyped, comic roles that the
audience has always laughed at rather than Mr. Wilson's play that
provided us with the opportunity to portray people with whom urban,
educated audiences in Delhi could identify with."
Wilson is thrilled his play has found a new audience in India.
"It
is humbling to realize that a 10-year-old kid who organized his first
plays with his cousins in a barn on his grandfather's Plymouth ranch 60
years later would have a script that is actually affecting human rights
in a country halfway around the planet," Wilson told the Herald on
Thursday.
Wilson couldn't resist making this humorous comparison: "Makes me sort of a
Benton County Harriet Beecher Stowe."
Wilson
has become a staple in New York City theater, having several of his
plays performed in the off-off-Broadway district. He's also the
co-founder of the theater group The Other Side of Silence, known more
commonly as TOSOS.
He was honored last year by New York's theater community with the 2007
Innovative Theater Award for Artistic Achievement.
Wilson said A Perfect Relationship is one of his least political plays.
"It's
about relationships," he said. "But it seems relationships between same
genders turns out to be the most political of all! How empty people's
lives must be for them to waste so much of their time on this planet
hating other people.
"I know my mom and my old Kennewick High
teacher, Miss Larson (who was the inspiration behind Wilson's writing
career), would be proud," Wilson said.
Thakur couldn't be happier with the success of Wilson's play and it's impact on
Indian theatergoers.
"The audiences come away with having enjoyed a comedy in which the characters
happen to be gay," Thakur said.
The
largely heterosexual audiences don't appear to feel disconnected to the
play's characters despite their lifestyle differences, he added.
Most
importantly, the director and Wilson are hoping to hear good news in
the near future from India's high court regarding the outdated penal
code.
"We are hoping to hear a favorable verdict from the high
court to abolish the old law," Thakur said. "In the meantime, the
theater is full, and the audiences are roaring for more. For us it's a
personal satisfaction of speaking our minds in the best way we can."
Love
Sunny
