World Premiere in Chicago: February 2013 with The New Colony
Remounted by the City of Chicago’s Theatre on the Lake Series in June 2013
Directed by Sean Kelly
CAST: Pat Coakley, Andrew Hobgood, Ryan Jarosch, Michael Peters

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In 1943, Woody, a young gay American, enlists in the army. After being shipped out to a remote Pacific Island, he is given an order: “Put up a show to entertain the men. Keep it simple. Needs music. And they like drag.” Theatre of war and theatre of the mind play out together on Woody’s little stage as he battles to build an identity and to be free.

“Linder is an unconventional writer, mostly preferring to work with his close compatriots at The New Colony rather than slogging through the usual new-play-development process at the bigger theaters in town. The results invariably are fascinating…a very potent scenario, made all the more intense by the richness of Linder’s language…this is a piece that stays with you.” -Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

“[The cast] lend their often hyperliterary musings a colloquial rapport that quickly earns our effortless support. When our forlorn bruin weeps glitter-tears, the whole room vibrates with the audience’s tacit chorus of “It gets better.”– Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City Times

“Long before a don’t-ask-don’t-tell oppression, military men celebrated respites from war duties by dressing in drag. Linder writes a tender ode to past military men struggling with identity.” -Chicago Theater Beat

Photos by Anne Petersen