STRAIGHT WHITE MEN Previews- Page 3

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 8:54am

I think we're maybe a little too woke if we're telling an Asian-American playwright (and one who has consistently been at the forefront of representation) that she needs to not give white men a voice... particularly when that is, to some extent, the point of the play. As if Young Jean Lee doesn't understand the importance of marginalized voices and representation.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 9:26am

From the reactions here, even though one of the main critiques that it isn't subversive enough, the fact that this play managed to upend people's expectations going in sounds pretty subversive in itself. I think there was a lot of expectations just from the title and the race/gender and previous work of the playwright.

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 9:48am

RippedMan said: "I applaud 2nd for putting this on Broadway, but I mean, it wasn't even off-Broadway before it became "Broadway." Def. a bold move on their part. I'm excited to see it, and curious."

I might be misinterpreting what you mean by "wasn't even off-Broadway," but the play did have a production at the Public in the fall of 2014.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 10:20am

Reading the author’s note that the play within Straight White Men is to be performed with sincerity and without irony is interesting; if the subversive action is to up end our expectations for irony/satire/insincerity then it is a success. But that still leaves a play to sit through in order to prove that point. What are you going to say with this sincere, sweet little story about four straight white guys at Christmas?

Maybe this conversation we’re having about race, diversity and privilege means the play has accomplished its goal...will be interesting to read the comments as more people see this.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 1:13pm

Does the play have anything to say about straightness or whiteness or maleness other than not skewering it?

For instance, it's a little heavy-handed but I just listened to the revival album of Passion and that show even takes the time to comment on masculinity when Giorgio writes to Clara about how he cried, etc.

I think there's value in exploring a "white" identity. It reminds of a relatively recent episode of the Still Processing podcast that laments that white creatives don't seem to be willing to fully explore what that means though it sneaks out in other ways. https://radiopublic.com/StillProcessing/ep/s1!947204dfc98b705023dd48062803e29d8bf57fde

Perhaps these family dramas would not be so tedious to me if they didn't try to claim that these white families' experiences are universal instead of specific and somewhat exclusionary.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 1:23pm

Synecdoche2 said: "It's a weird play for Broadway for sure. What you have to remember is that when this play was first produced it was done at Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, where Lee herself premiered many extremely experimental plays. The context for this play (including the pre-show) is designed to be viewed by an audience expecting an experimental screed against the white man, so whenthe play instead is a naturalistic human drama about the difficulty of manhood, itbecomes about reversing expectations and challenging empathy from an audience that prefers to distance themselves from the work they're viewing. It makes perfect sense for the play when it pulled the rug out from underneath the audience, but now that it's on Broadway the conceit will get lost for many."

Thank you for this post. This explains everything behind the show.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 1:42pm

I think this Time Out New York interview can give some context:

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/young-jean-lee-shakes-up-broadway-with-straight-white-men

"

“I basically do site-specific work for whatever audience I’m working with,” Lee says, “And so, since I was doing a play at the Public in 2014…” She trails off. Indeed, that’s the land of the straight-white-subscription audience right there. Lee evades the question of whether or not she’s deliberately goading that audience. In some ways, she’s considering their own comfort. (“Why put up a show everyone hates? ) But her work, even in her current anthropological realism mode, always has a stinging quality. Lee gets a charge out of the conversations she’s overheard people have after the play. “One thing I’d hear a lot was ‘Why would the playwright do this to us?’ It was as though something horrible had been done to them.”

What Lee has done was attack another holy of holies: straight-white-male ambition. Matt, the protagonist, has come to terms with his privilege by becoming a kind of mindful refusenik. The expectation on him is so overblown that his very active choice is complete inactivity. “And, really,” says Lee, “Matt is me. If I woke up tomorrow as a single white male, I would have a crisis. As a Korean-American female, all I have to do is try to succeed and I’m a hero of diversity! But if I wake up as Matt, I don’t get points for being successful as a capitalist.”

This is like her version of trolling the audience in a way.

Updated On: 7/2/18 at 01:42 PM

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 2:17pm

I think another thing to keep in mind about Lee is that she always says she writes the plays she least wants to write. That's why Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven is a has a stereotypical Asian title--she's leaning in to being pigeonholed and then she subverts the pigeonholing within the piece. So this play is her response to a disgust at writing about straight white men and how she handles it. I saw it in Chicago at Steppenwolf and didn't love it but appreciated it, and I absolutely agree with the point that because this conversation about meaning and race and privilege is being had, the play is a success. 

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 10:44pm

Apparently as of this evening Tom Skerrit is still on the playbill, that's um awkward

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 7/2/18 at 11:41pm

The Playbill just doesn't make sense.  It's bizarre but I get these were already printed when he very suddenly left the show days before it opened.  Maybe they will have new ones next week.  Very awkward.  Below is what will be on the Playbill asap.



 

Updated On: 7/2/18 at 11:41 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 12:08am

I hate when we have celebs in a show and are subjected to googled images of them for the cover art..

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 1:59am

the artwork is awful but if i remember the play correctly don't they play a boardgame called privilege (which is really just a modified monopoly set)

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 8:30am

LightsOut90 said: "the artwork is awful but if i remember the play correctly don't they play a boardgame called privilege (which is really just a modified monopoly set)"

This is correct -- the art is an allusion to that (although it looks cheaply photoshopped, and did even before Skerritt abruptly left).

Has Arndt done a performance yet?

Updated On: 7/3/18 at 08:30 AM

[Dave28282]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 8:55am

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "
What Lee has done was attack another holy of holies: straight-white-male ambition. Matt, the protagonist, has come to terms with his privilege by becoming a kind of mindful refusenik. The expectation on him is so overblown that his very active choice is complete inactivity. “And, really,” says Lee, “Matt is me. If I woke up tomorrow as a single white male, I would have a crisis. As a Korean-American female, all I have to do is try to succeed and I’m a hero of diversity! But if I wake up as Matt, I don’t get points for being successful as a capitalist.”

This is like her version of trolling the audience in a way."

What she really is doing, is putting once race and sexuality above another. She is the one keeping this idea alive and continues to separate. 

Racism is the exceptionalistic idea that races can be ranked as superior and inferior compared to eachother. This can result in different standards for one race over another.

That's what she does.

 

Updated On: 7/3/18 at 08:55 AM

[Dave28282]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 8:55am

double

Updated On: 7/3/18 at 08:55 AM

[carnzee]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 9:42am

Dave28282 said: 

What she really is doing, is putting once race and sexuality above another. She is the one keeping this idea alive and continues to separate.

Racism isthe exceptionalistic idea that races can be ranked as superior and inferior comparedto eachother. This can result in different standards for one race over another.

That's what she does.

"

Have you seen this play?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 9:51am

Dave28282 said: "ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "
What Lee has done was attack another holy of holies: straight-white-male ambition. Matt, the protagonist, has come to terms with his privilege by becoming a kind of mindful refusenik. The expectation on him is so overblown that his very active choice is complete inactivity. “And, really,” says Lee, “Matt is me. If I woke up tomorrow as a single white male, I would have a crisis. As a Korean-American female, all I have to do is try to succeed and I’m a hero of diversity! But if I wake up as Matt, I don’t get points for being successful as a capitalist.”

This is like her version of trolling the audience in a way."

What she really is doing, is putting once race and sexuality above another. She is the one keeping this idea alive and continues to separate.

Racism isthe exceptionalistic idea that races can be ranked as superior and inferior comparedto eachother. This can result in different standards for one race over another.

That's what she does.

"

I think you missed the point as what you posted truly does not follow what she said nor what the entire article said. I also think though there have been many posts that show you really do not understand the unique American experience much less the American experience for people of color, your post here really illustrates that the best.

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 10:54am

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "Dave28282 said: "That's what she does."

I think you missed the point..."

That's what he does.

[MaryShelleyDuvall]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 12:04pm

Seeing it Sunday!

[YouDon'tClimbTrees?]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 12:15pm

I'm also seeing it on Sunday. I'm curious as to how Armie Hammer is doing in his Broadway debut.

[bennyb86]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 1:36pm

DramaTeach said: "kevinr said: "I am seeing this next week and hoping to meet Armie Hammer & Josh Charles at the Stage Door afterwards. Any info about the stage door would be appreciated."



The stage door was full of very enthusiastic Armie/Call Me By Your Name fans. My friend wanted to wait, so we hung out. It took 30-40 minutes for Armie and Paul Schneider to come out. They signed quickly (Armie signed a peach anda copy of Andre Aciman’s book amongst other things). No pictures, so people took them of him as he signed. People were also going up to his wife who got out of her car to talk and hug people. Fascinating. After waiting that long, we left and didn’t wait for Josh Charles.





"

Thank you for posting this.  I am hoping that CMBYN fans don't ruin Armie coming out at the stage door and the autograph hounds.  He seems like such a level headed guy.  I'm going next month for my birthday so hopefully this stays the same.  Same with Paul.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 3:47pm

Went Sunday evening and left feeling like it was a mixed bag with more good than bad.

Thought the first third was excellent, the second one okay and the third somewhat disappointing. At the end of the performance, it just felt like something was missing.  Perhaps I simply wanted the text to pay off. Perhaps the point of the play is that the conversation taking place is the real payoff. 

The acting was excellent. Not taking anything away from Charles, Hammer and Schneider but I was truly impressed with Payne and how comfortable he appeared.

Thankful this has made it to Broadway. We need more plays like this, even with their flaws.
 

Updated On: 7/3/18 at 03:47 PM

[Dave28282]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 6:33pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: " do not understand the unique American experience much less the American experience for people of color."

I understand it very well. There is nothing you can say that justifies your defending the so called "positive exclusion". 

 

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 6:35pm

Dave, please go away.  

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/3/18 at 6:59pm

Don't respond or acknowledge trolls. Don't let them get their fix. If you like, leave a blank post below a nonsense troll post so others know to move on with the topic at hand and discard the above.