(l-r top row): Sam Hale, Stephen Beckford, Indio
Melendez, Andre Rodriguez, Will
Sierra, Johnathan Cedano; (lower row, l-r) Marilyn
Torres and Iris Aay-Almonteshine in ‘Banjee.’
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By STEVE WEINSTEIN
Friday, January 30, 2004
When you’ve seen as much off-off-Broadway gay theater as I have, your eyes
tend to roll when you hear about a play like “Banjee”: Straight Hispanic hustlers
and the women who love them.
I assumed that this would be another of those flimsy plots built around a
lot of skin and simulated sex for the raincoat-on-the-lap brigade.
It’s always nice when one’s smug conceits burst. And author A.B. Lugo does
a very fine job of describing a side of gay life that many readers of this
paper have never experienced — if, indeed, they even knew it existed.
The action alternates between a Midtown that may resemble certain boîtes known
among the city’s demi-monde, where Hispanic hustlers wait for older white men
and an apartment in the Bronx.
There, Marlena (Marilyn Torres) patiently waits for her boyfriend, Jose (Indio
Melendez), to return from his night-watchman job. Except, of course, Jose is
being watched a lot more than he’s watching.
Jose has been initiated into the easy money of gay-for-pay by his best friend,
Tony (Will Sierra), who has his own girlfriend, Ileana (Iris Aay-Almonte).
Perhaps not surprisingly, both men have children.
This is the world of “Baby Boy,” men who have children but who are at heart
still children themselves. In fact, this is hardly a “gay play” at all.
Instead, it is a searing exploration of the hardscrabble world of the barrio,
where children and welfare entrap young couples just on the cusp of discovering
the wider world.
The play has received an expert production from Wings Theatre, which is to
be commended for taking on such an edgy project. Director Dudley Findlay, Jr.,
does a great job with limited resources, which is most apparent in the limited
cast. (With so much mention of older clients, one stand-in for Anglos would
have helped.)
Lugo has a golden ear for Nuyorican slang. When Marlena goes off on a tirade
and alternates between English and Spanish, you may not understand everything
she’s saying, but her body language speaks volumes.
The cast is uniformly terrific. Melendez brings an authentic street quality
to his performance. It also helps that he’s hot as hell, with a washboard stomach
that could clean anyone’s laundry.
Petite Marilyn Torres brings so much fire and passion to her role that the
audience was audibly gasping during some of her speechifying. She has the accent,
the gesticulations and the energy of her character down to a science.
Will Sierra was a bit miscast, but played the part of a man caught between
his sexuality and his surroundings well. Aay-Almonte overplays a bit, but the
audience seemed to love it.
Similarly, I had a problem with Andres Rodriguez, who is the sashaying bartender,
dispenser of wisdom, resident drag queen (or, more properly, gender-fucker)
and all-around comic outlet. The director wisely allows a full drag number
to open Act II, and it’s a doozy. But at times, if I were Tony or Angel, I
might have decked him.
There are revelations galore, as well as drugs and alcohol and lots of smoking.
This is a gritty world, only a few blocks but a world away from Chelsea.
In some ways, Tony is the most interesting character. He has initiated Angel
into hustling, but he doesn’t seem to do much of it himself. Instead, he shifts
around the edges.
When a potential boyfriend, who has been hovering on the edges, swoops down
to take him away, he is hesitant. But in the end, he has to follow his heart.
His best friend Angel’s reaction is totally believable, as is his girlfriend’s
(if you’re offended by every slang word for “gay” in two languages, stay away).
“Banjee” is a satisfying evening that manages to disturb and stimulate. In
the end, it also heals. That’s what theater’s supposed to do, isn’t it?
Wings Theater Co.
154 Christopher St.
1/9 to Christopher St.
212-627-2961
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