Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays

by Mo Gaffney

Two little words, and suddenly your whole world changes. An A-list lineup of writers offers unique takes on the moments before, during and after "I do" -- p. 4 of cover.

Genres: Plays, LGBT

69 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This includes a contribution from Rudnick, and wraps up my play binge for a bit. Lovely: sad, funny, silly, tragic.

And all the while, all I can think is how are teachers in elementary schools in Florida going to give any instruction on anything without including gender and sexual orientation? Leaving out he, she, husband, wife, mother, father, Mr., Mrs., professional football, any of the gendered job names...Dick and Jane is right the hell out.

I wonder if it is possible to sue public office holders for malpractice, when they, for example refuse to follow a judge's ruling, or when they pass a law which will not pass legal muster, or just do something really stupid?

Library copy

[Zachary Littrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about Standing on Ceremony, starting from picking it up from the library. I rode my bike about 3 miles to the library, was within eyeline of the building, when my tire got caught in a hole---the bike stopped while I did not. Next thing I knew I landed on the ground face first. My glasses were broken, my jaw knocked silly, hands scratched to high heaven, and for good measure I had bit into my lip (which contains a lot more blood than I would've guessed).

It took a lot of inner strength at this point to not go into the library anyway and get my book on gay marriage with blood all over me.

Anyway, to cut things short, I eventually went back to the library and got the damn book and it's...ok, but I dunno if I'd get in another bike accident over it. Probably funnier in 2013. Not a bad time and enjoyed most of it (London Mosquitos by Moises Kaufman and Neil LaBute's "Strange Fruits" were standouts), and happy to say gay marriage is far more normalized now than it was in these plays.

[Becky Galambos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this collection of plays as we are rereading all of the works that were produced in our festival. I had read the two we produced, "My Husband" by Paul Rudnick, which was one of my favorites, and "This Flight Tonight" by Wendy MacLeod. I enjoyed reading the rest of the plays for the first time. Some are a bit dated as they were written before the LGBTQ marriage decision, but still relevant in general themes.

[Periko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mira que no me gusta el matrimonio pero mancantao, risa y cariño asegurados

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never fully got my head around whether these plays within this volume were meant to be considered all together as one work - which kind of works as a conversational mirror held up to what America is saying about gay people getting married - or seperate one-act plays. Are they punches in one bout, or quick, single sideswipes?

Taken together, they are one large faceted crystal, which, while looking at one surface, often reveals much about the others beyond or around it. Often funny, occasionally heartbreaking, and during at least one point, exhausting, all of these mini-plays (or the one goddamn big play they make up) present some important & useful food for thought; particularly when one is just an "ally." I choose to make this part of my struggle - for so many, there is no choice, which is sort of the point.

I look forward to perhaps seeing this/them performed.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nine short plays by 8 playwrights (Paul Rudnick contributed 2), so the quality varies a bit, but all are worth reading, possibly seeing, although some are - thankfully - dated, now that marriage equality has progressed in the 4 years since these were written.

[libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

kinda gay