CHARLES TOWN — The Old Opera House Theatre Company presents Topher Payne’s comedy/drama ‘Perfect Arrangement” through Sunday.
It’s the 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. It’s just after WWII and before the Korean War, during the “cold war” time. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. There’s just one problem: Bob and Norma are both gay and have married each other’s partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the American gay rights movement, madcap classic sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two “All-American” couples are forced to stare down the closet door.
Director Glenn Frail explained more.
“The events in the play are based on actual events, but the characters themselves are fictional,” Frail said. “In 1950 the Department of State decided along with others to pursue expanding the McCarthy hearings, taking it beyond socialists and communists. They were basically seeking out anyone they could label as a ‘deviant’ that could be considered a security risk. That included a drunkard, a sexual deviant like a ‘loose woman’ or gay person — any of those kinds of things. The policy was so broad, it could be used for basically anything. It didn’t have to be proven; all there had to be was an accusation. They were actively searching those people out. The communist scare was called the Red Scare. This was the Lavender Scare.”
This was done in the federal government, starting with the Department of State in 1950, but it expanded across the board in the federal government with a bill signed into law in 1953. Frail said the language was very broad in what was considered “deviant behavior” and persons could be discharged from employment. This caused, Frail said, people to be afraid of being found out, and if questioned, they might name others so they would be given leniency. Government employees were spying on each other. This went on until 1977. At that point, someone could still be discharged, but the person would not be sought out. That lasted until 1995 when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy went into effect. Sexual orientation was taken out of the equation for grounds of firing.
“If they found out someone was gay or any of those other things, they’d approach those people and ask for names of other people, and offer to go easy on that person,” said Frail. “They’d give out names of five or six people they thought they could in order to protect themselves. All were discharged. Their records were marked, so they couldn’t get hired by another government agency. They even sent letters home to people and families, ostracizing people from their own families. So, it became even more intense than the people ousted for being communists or socialists.
Frail said this was all done in the idea of protecting the government.
“Some of those people believed they were actually protecting the government and that those people could be blackmailed or security risks, turned into double agents. But out of all the people that were ever caught for subversive behavior or espionage, none of them were the people labeled sexual deviants. There was a documentary, and a woman who was in line to be the first Navy admiral was gay. She knew it was a matter of time. Instead of seeing her career destroyed, she retired and gave up that chance.”
“Perfect Arrangement” is about four characters. They are married to each other’s partners in marriages of convenience. They live in adjacent apartments with a door in closets on each side of the wall. Behind closed doors, they live the lifestyle they want. When they have people over, they have to make sure they hide their lifestyles. Frail said the boss of two characters comes over for a dinner party and announces he’ll be hunting down people of their own group.
“This was just after WWII and before Korean War. It was still a backwards time,” Frail said. “When you think of the ‘20s and ‘30s, even though those sexual orientations weren’t commonplace, they weren’t looked down upon, either. When WWII came around, it was a switch and a more puritanical thinking.”
He said the actors are doing a wonderful job.
“There are so many layers of the characters,” Frail said. “They’re playing one character but playing so many layers of each other to achieve that character. They play themselves as their romantic couples of two girls and two guys. But they have to have that outward face for the rest of the world. They make up stories about each other and how they met. And when they were helping hunt communists, they thought they were helping their country. When it comes to hunting people like themselves, and they’re in that situation hiding as well, they have that moral dilemma.”
Caitlin Mitchell plays Norma Baxter, one of the two Department of State employees. By day, she’s married to Jimmy Baxter, a school teacher. By night, she’s with Millie Martindale.
“When I think about the challenges that Norma faces, I feel like her biggest struggle lies in her desire to be a good wife--and hopefully one day, mother — and also employee, while living in a world that does not accept her lifestyle,” said Mitchell. “Her greatest desire is to have a family, but in the 1950’s that was not something that was even in the realm of possibility. As she says to Millie at one point, ‘Always another plate to keep spinning.’ She is faced with several hard decisions throughout the show, and it’s been so fun to explore her character and figure out why she makes the decisions she chooses.”
Mitchell said Topher Payne created a very heavy and emotional plot interlaced with many comedic moments. “The ensemble dynamic is so multi-faceted, the cast jokes that each relationship is like ‘peeling an onion...so many layers!’ I feel so honored to be playing the part of Norma because this show really is eye opening about a part of our history that may not be common knowledge during the earliest days of the Civil Rights movement, and the choices people had to make about which side of history they wanted to be on. I have had a wonderful time with this show and am thankful for the hard working cast and crew who brought this 1950’s world back to life.”
Frail said the playwright did an excellent job of researching the time period. It is full of drama, but he said it has humor.
“He incorporated as much humor as there can be in a serious situation,” said Frail. “There are moments just in the fact of the couples trying to cover up for things, cover up in front of their boss and his wife, and create their stories.”
He knows the subject matter might be sensitive, and the audience will have a varied opinion. “People in the audience may or may not agree with it. They can be one side or the other. Everyone has an opinion or choice. There are things about this that a lot of people don’t know. I’d like the audience to walk away from the show thinking about what they saw.”
The cast includes Ryan McGaughey as Millie Martindale, Jeff Marcum as Bob Martindale, Thomas Hegarty as Jim Baxter, Teri Campbell as Kitty Sunderson, David Lusk as Theodore Sunderson, and Melissa Powell as Barbara Grant.Call to reserve seating or purchase tickets online. This is rated PG-13. “Perfect Arrangement” is staged by arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
2019-10-17 04:15:00Z
https://www.journal-news.net/journal-news/lifestyle-and-privacy-issues-raised-in-the-comedy-drama-perfect/article_099b61ce-ba5a-51f1-8fc5-d11d9679b164.html
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