The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
About belonging, and hidden stories
New play tells story of interracial gay romance in Texas
Ricardo Pérez González is a playwright happy to explore history to shine fresh light on presentday life. His play “On the Grounds of Belonging,” which began previews in its world premiere production at Long Wharf Theatre Oct. 9, journeys through a stretch of history still buried in obscure indifference.
Officially opening Wednesday, and running through Nov. 3, “On the Grounds of Belonging” is a love story set in 1950s Texas. The trouble is that both lovers are men — one white, one black — living under the law of “different sex, same color” when their affections tend toward same sex, different color.
González, who identifies as “a queer Puerto Rican playwright and TV writer,” was neither alive during the time of his play nor has he ever lived in Houston. He initially heard of Houston’s gay bar scene during the Eisenhower era while in the company of older gay men.
“I heard of their adventures in this milieu,” González said.
“The whole story actually came to me the way all good stories come to me,” he said. “It began with a boy — a gentleman I was dating, and he had some older gay friends who were kind of his elders who actually went to the racially segregated gay bars in which our play takes place.”
González’s first thought was: “Oh! Of course there were racially segregated gay bars,” he said. “Queer people are not immune to the structures of oppression. It all trickles down.”
Then it quickly dawned on González that, in his metropolitan experience, gay bars are de facto segregated.
“I live in New York,” he said, “and you go to a gay bar in Hell’s Kitchen and it’s very white. You go to other gay bars and it’s very African American. Or it’s very Asian.
“So when I heard these stories, I thought about how relevant that time period still is,” González said, “and what an eyeopener it is.
“First off, there are a lot of people who didn’t know there were gay bars in Houston, period,” he said. “I’m writing about queer history to bring these voices to light. These people to light. It’s always been here.”
With the success of Theodore Melfi’s 2016 film “Hidden Figures,” audiences prove receptive to absorbing history of suppressed heroes and marginalized groups. According to González, that yearning is understandable.
“There’s history out there it behooves all of us to know, because, first off, it’s the history of our nation, if nothing else,” he said. “It’s the history of the ways in which we’ve expanded and become more inclusive.”
Helping González tell his story is director David Mendizábal and a cast composed of Blake Morris, Calvin Leon Smith, Craig Bockhorn, Jeremiah Clapp, Thomas Silcott and Tracey Conyer Lee. On the design team are Wilson Chin (set), Ntokozo Fuzunina Kunene (costumes), Cha See (Lights) and Mauricio Escamilla (composition & sound design).
González also said sharing these obscure stories fosters thenation’s democratic promise of all being equal, of all voices being heard, and having an impact.
“That’s a beautiful and important thing for all Americans, I’d say,” said González. “And it’s particularly important for queer folks so that we recognize that we’re standing on the shoulders of people who in some cases gave their lives and in some cases risked their lives, and in some cases gave up their freedom, their comforts and their livelihoods in order for us to be more free. And that’s a noble sacrifice.”
González said that even though his characters traverse rough terrain as he explores “the nittygritty complexities they lived through, it’s ultimately a romance,” he said. “A love story.”
González uses humor as a sort of yeast to give rise to his storytelling.
“That’s just kind of my writing,” the playwright said. “It’s not so much a comedy as it is a dramatic story with humor.
“The humor, quite honestly, comes from the characters,” he continued. “We laugh at really dire situations and make jokes when the chips are down. We use humor as a way to distract from how tough life is.
“I also firmly believe that humor allows us to open our hearts a little bit more,” González said. “So we laugh and we feel a little more safe.
Like “Fiddler on the Roof ” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” this play looks to speak universal truths that transcend the characters and setting of the story, he said.
“I think that it is absolutely, generally speaking, a metaphor for our times,” González said. “I was sitting in rehearsal and watching the play the other day, and I was struck by how little had changed in some ways.
“I think it would be wrong to say we have not progressed,” he said. “I think that is a lie we tell ourselves when we’re feeling sad, mopey and depressed. But there are certain dynamics that are still at play today for people who are not queer; or nonblack folk, or white folk, African American.
“I think that one of the things the play does, interestingly enough, is it shows the ways in which white folk are harmed by racism,” González said. “That’s another piece that makes it accessible. You fall in love with these men falling in love and it reminds us what it is to love.
“It also shows when love isn’t enough,” he added. “When love meets the outside world.”