Faaggot! Steel Kiss and Gulag

by Robin Fulford

In Faggot Steel Kiss & Gulag, Robin Fulford's highly acclaimed duet about the death of a gay man in a major North American city, and the murderers who committed the crime, appear together for the first time in this newly revised edition.Steel Kiss gives us the night of the murder, its victim, and the young perpetrators; Gulag takes us into the post-prison lives of these four men. Together they form a disturbing look at society's quiet hate crime. Gay-bashing is a hidden and frequent occurrence.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Robin Fulford is a playwright, teacher, and the artistic director of Platform 9 Theatre in Toronto. His plays have been produced in Canada, the United States, and England. Poetic and intense, they provoke audiences to explore social issues.

Reviews

[Cara Patel]

This is a bit of a confusing play to read without being able to see it first, as all the characters are played by a limited number of actors. It also has incredibly short scenes, so it feels a little bit disjointed. Because of this, it feels a bit like a set of improv prompts set around a central theme.

The writing felt a bit jouvenile, but the characters are supposed to be teens so I assume it was on purpose.

I would be interested to see how this would be staged though, because with a good cast who can quickly swap between very distinct characters, it could provide some interesting commentary.

[Lucas]

These must’ve felt so bracing in the late 80s, but these two plays have not grown in time.

[Frank]

Robin Fulford's interlocking one-acts about four teens involved in a gay-bashing incident still packs a punch, even if the lower-income teen diction feels almost quaint in its datedness. The theatrical conceit, with the four actors who play the teens playing all the other roles in the first play, "Steel Kiss," and one woman playing all the women the boys encounter after getting out of prison in "Gulag," underlies the theme of shared humanity betrayed by the young men's violence. This remains a powerful project for a truly creative director.