Review: DV8 Theatre’s Straight Talk About Homosexuality

The performers use physicality to tell the stories of those who have been persecuted

DV8 Physical Theatre’s To Be Straight With You tells the individual stories of persecuted gays and lesbians in the form of monologues by six performers
DV8 Physical Theatre’s To Be Straight With You tells the individual stories of persecuted gays and lesbians in the form of monologues. (UCSB Arts & Lectures courtesy photo)

By Justine Sutton | Published on 11.23.2009

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We go to the theater sometimes to laugh, sometimes to be moved, sometimes to tap our toes to a catchy tune or watch people leap and twirl with grace. Sometimes we go to learn something. Once in awhile, all of these elements come together. DV8 Physical Theatre’s To Be Straight With You, performed last week at the Lobero Theatre, leaped dramatically beyond this goal, and in addition to dashes of each, it incorporated serious truth-telling that was gritty, painful and illuminating.

Director Lloyd Newsom, who is gay, was inspired to address the subject of homosexuality and how gay people are treated by religious fundamentalists, especially Muslims, by instances of persecution he saw on the streets of his native England.

Eighty-five people in the United Kingdom were interviewed for the project, including gays and lesbians and anti-gay religious fundamentalists, as well as those who are both religious and gay. Their actual words made up the text and dialogue of the evening-long piece. Early on, audio clips of hateful anti-gay speech came thick and fast, setting a tone of tension.

After introducing us to the subject matter in that way, Newsom then told the individual stories of persecuted gays and lesbians in the form of monologues by the performers, who sometimes spoke the words themselves and sometimes lip-synched to the recordings.

A South African woman was outcast by her family for being a lesbian and was forced to turn to prostitution. An Iranian doctor was severely beaten for being gay, and his partner was killed. A young Indian man was knifed by his father after revealing to him that he was gay.

The six performers embodied the stories in a divinely physical manner. Often dancing — or, in one case, jumping rope — expressively while speaking the words, they portrayed the interviewees’ stories of persecution and violence with authenticity, sensitivity and respect. The performers are more than dancers, actors or storytellers. With this edgy, challenging and inspiring material, they go beyond any of those and have become witnesses and testifiers of truth.

Staging was minimal to start with — a backdrop of a wall and door, with a giant chalkboard featured prominently — but eventually included brilliant elements of visual technology.

Near the beginning of the show, a scrim was lowered between the audience and performers, and great use was made of this “canvas.” Projected onto the scrim were lines that appeared to be drawn by an unseen hand, boxes that a performer stepped into and through, like comic book panels, and a virtual globe that a performer stood behind and “spun,” stopping it and pointing to countries as he talked about laws regarding homosexuality in those places.

A particularly educational portion of the evening: Did you know that in seven countries in the world today, the penalty for homosexuality is death?

In a question-and-answer session after the performance, Newsom was asked if he thought he was just “preaching to the converted” with the show. “Never underestimate,” he said, quietly. “The power of the converted.”

— Justine Sutton of Santa Barbara is a freelance writer and reviewer.

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» Persecuted gays?? on 11.24.09 @ 05:23 AM

What about Christians that have been persecuted BY gays? Why don’t they take their preaching to the countries where the cited incidents take place? South Africa, Iran, India, Saudi Arabia… What are WE supposed to do about it?

At any rate, this looks like an extremely boring way to spend an evening, watching gays and lesbians prance about and whine about persecution in one of the most gay “tolerant” and overly “inclusive” countries on earth. Its all we hear about. Its all we see on TV. Every TV show has to have its token gay or couple now. I’ve canceled my cable. It makes me sick.

Ok bring out the “bigot” patrol.


» JAX on 11.24.09 @ 08:46 AM

I doubt seriously if this presententation delves very deply into homosexual or gay life styles and behavior patterns, which are at the root of the reason why the heterosexual community does not “accept” gay life styles as an equivalent to theirsalthough willing to tolerate these behaviors!


» Darwin Holter on 11.24.09 @ 09:27 AM

This was the most amazing performance I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. The incredibly long standing ovation at the end of the performance was very emotional.
To the wanking “christian” who obviously didn’t see this phenomenal performance…... It’s probably best that you stay shuttered at home, away from people who are different from you and are still being persecuted for being gay in this country.  At 4:23 in the morning it would be better to be sleeping or in your case praying to your god for help with your sickness.


» Gays hate themselves on 11.24.09 @ 09:58 AM

The hate themselves because its wrong—they prey on our youth to be like them..I know a kid who was convinced he was gay when he was not—be careful—they want you to roll into their lifestyle—like it or not…


» Disappointed all around on 11.24.09 @ 10:35 AM

I’m a Christian and I believe homosexuality is wrong, but the comments here by “Persecuted gays” and “Gays hate themselves” were completely inappropriate, and I flagged them as such.  I hope Noozhawk has the sense to remove them as soon as possible; no one should have to read such hateful drivel.

Be civil, or don’t speak at all.  Speaking your mind about morality is one thing, hate speech is another.  Especially for the first speaker, who seems to identify him/herself as a Christian: where is the love of Christ we are supposed to exhibit?

Now, about the play, which I actually SAW.  It was of course at times hard for me to watch, since I don’t agree with all of the politics.  But I thought it was beautifully done, and an incredibly creative melding of dance, interviews, and multi-media.  The stories of all these persecuted people were incredibly moving and painful.  As a Christian, it made me so ashamed of all my brothers and sisters who spew such hatred.

However, one problem I did have with their presentation was what I felt was a complete lack of respect for the other side.  They presented only the most polemical, angry, anti-gay speakers, and only the most sympathetic homosexuals.  Of course, there are real people out there like this, but there are far more in the middle. 

I think the most disappointing part of the play was how they openly mocked a young man struggling with his sexual identity.  Any quality documentary NEVER shows disrespect for an interviewee.  NEVER.  If you’re going to do that, call yourself agit-prop theatre, or polemical theatre, but not documentary theatre.  They made no attempt to be neutral.


» Amy on 11.24.09 @ 10:38 AM

I really wish that those who possess so much hate would turn that energy into something that would make a positive difference.  If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.


» Amy on 11.24.09 @ 10:51 AM

I really wish that those who possess so much hate would turn that energy into something that would make a positive difference.  If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.


» JAX on 11.24.09 @ 01:56 PM

I guess all of the “flagging” is an indication of just how intolerant the gay community is toward the legitimate opinions and concerns of the heterosexual community.

The difficulty so many in the “largely intolerant” gay community has with those who are in the center of a “very tolerant” heterosexual community, is they do not understand, or don’t want to understand, the difference between “acceptance” and “tolerance”!


» What is with the flagging? on 11.24.09 @ 08:33 PM

This is new, noozhawk? We get to censor each other now? What happened to free speech? When did free speech become translated into “you must be nice and civil or you must not speak”, that is called free speech now? No, that is suppressed and inhibited speech.

Free speech is not “polite, civil and respectful speech” It is just what it is called: FREE speech. That means you can say whatever you want without fear of persecution, prosectution or any other consequence.
We are so quickly becoming just another banana republic communist third world country.
If you don’t agree with someone, something, or their lifestyle or have different morals it is “inappropiate” or hateful? What is it with the new protections for gays only? The Founding Father are rolling in their graves.
Noozhawk should censor NOTHING, (nor should anyone suggest they do) that complies with their rules and I applaud them for not doing it.


» The first speaker to "Dissappointed" on 11.24.09 @ 08:49 PM

Somewhere along the line, too many shallow thinking Christians (who likely never actually study the Bible) got the idea that Christianity is about “being nice and civil to each other”. It is not. God hates sin. He was not a nice and civil God and did not tolerate it - if you actually take time to read much of the Old Testament you will see clearly that this is true. This was the whole reason for sending his Son to take the penalty for us rather than flush us down the toilet like we deserve.

Christianity is not about being nice to people and avoiding hurting feelings or offending people. It is about pleasing God. It is about standing up for
what is right and good and standing against what is wrong and evil, and I don’t read anything about it being done in a courteous and respectful way. Perfect example? Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple. If you’re a Christian , study your Bible.

My comments were not hateful toward anyone. I hate the sin, not the sinner, as does God.


» So what? on 11.24.09 @ 09:18 PM

I copy pasted this from another blogger on another blog because it speaks so well to the attitude some people have developed about “politically correct” speech (“respectful and civil”) as opposed to “free” speech (which is now called hate speech just because people have had enough, are angry and raise their voices).

It is clear this new idea of “civility and respect” (Joe Wilson)  is because those in power can’t take the same opposition and criticism that they spent the years of being out of power perpetuating:

“When some people are offended the appropriate response is simply to say “so what”. So what if some people don’t like the tenor of our discourse. So what if some are uncomfortable when we question our leadership. So what so what so what. We CAN say what we want to say and we SHOULD say it as loudly and as often as we CHOOSE. So what if some don’t like it. So what.”

I will add to that - If I OFFEND you it’s YOUR problem. Don’t try to make it mine!


» By the way... on 11.24.09 @ 09:54 PM

Christians are NOT the ones persecuting gays in the countries mentioned. These are Islamic countries that in fact persecute Christians the same way as they treat gays.


» AN50 on 11.30.09 @ 05:52 PM

Nice, so gays are persecuted by Muslims and Christians are called out for it? Most Christians I know exist as such for 45 minutes a week (on Sunday). The rest of the time they behave like secular atheist. So for you Christians who believe homos are evil and should be burned go read a bible. I for one believe in the power of redemption and forgiveness. I believe it because I am in dire need of it (ho, ho, ho, really not kidding). As for the play, I did not see it so I cannot comment on its performance. As for the subject, I feel for the persecuted as my religion is one of the most, so I know what unmitigated hatred and misunderstanding feels like. Having said that, the gay community is doing far more damage to its cause (persecution) trying to ram a sexual behavior down people’s throat that is repulsive and sickening to them, than simply addressing the issue. Jax has it right on; there is a big difference between acceptance and tolerance. The LGBT community better start getting to know the difference.


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