The 31st century is a homosexual era. Outlawed and stigmatized, countless
heterosexual men and women are killed in hate crimes, imprisoned,
discriminated against or forced to be rehabilitated in this Orwellian
future, where even sexuality is overseen by the state. Moreover, it's
rumored that heterosexual sex transmits a deadly disease.
The situation may sound like the plight of homosexual men in the
pre-Stonewall 20th century with the terms "homosexual" and "heterosexual"
switched.
Director-playwright Chiu An-chen(邱安忱) of The Party Theater
Group(同黨劇團) invented this future for its new performance The Story of
Two Lovers (戀人物語), a musical inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Living in a homosexual society, a young man and woman fall in love at first
sight but dare not express themselves either to each other or to their
family and friends. When the man tells his buddy that he is a heterosexual,
the friend ignores his "nonsense," saying that homosexuality is nature's
law. After the woman confides to her friend that she's attracted to men, she
is sent to an electrification therapist who tries to indoctrinate in her the
notion that heterosexuality is the most disgusting perversion in the world.
This is similar to how the plight of gays is often portrayed in books and
movies, where homosexual lovers endure all kinds of ordeals, only to be
taken apart by an unsympathetic society, with role reversal the only
difference. The musical numbers provide comic relief with their
side-splitting lyrics.
The Story of Two Lovers will go on stage tonight at 7:30pm, tomorrow and
Sunday at 2:30pm and 7:30pm at the Experimental Hall of the National
Theater. Tickets are available through Acer ticketing outlets.
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