Walking into the Minetta Lane Theater, the mood is immediately set. Wedding inspired music blares with the set decked out with rows of clear plastic chairs and a beautiful fabric draped in between two intertwined giant wedding rings. An instant smile is formed. And it doesn’t end until way after you leave the theater. Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays is a series of nine plays about, well, gay marriage. Written by eight renowned playwrights featuring a cast of six stars, Standing on Ceremony is a wonderful evening of storytelling. The highlights of the evening come from plays written by Jordan Harrison, Wendy MacLeod, Doug Wright, and two by Paul Rudnick. Many of the pieces took the comic route, including both by Rudnick featuring the always hilarious Harriet Harris, but it was Kaufman’s dramatic piece that won over the audience. Each play offered new and similar angles of gay marriage. What I appreciated most was that not one was a “propaganda” piece. While they included some informative facts, it was the stories that took center stage. The cast including Harris, Craig Bierko, Mark Consuelos, Polly Draper, Beth Leavel, and Richard Thomas do a wonderful job taking the nine plays and bringing them to life in a staged reading form. While none of the actors on stage where gay, they showed how great of actors they truly are.
If you’re looking for a way to smile for a solid ninety minutes, check out Standing on Ceremony. It’s a must see.