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Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/197412
All the LGBT World's a Stage "I 'm still amazed we were never protested," Michael Drury says. Were. Notice the past tense. As in he doesn't expect any protestors now either. Tat time has passed. Quickly, he ticks of topics that would have felt the wrath of, say, the hate group known as the Westboro Baptist Church: gay and lesbian students in a Catholic high school, the book of Genesis with Adam and Steve, even just the title Southern Baptist Sissies. But outrage in Louisville? "Not a peep," Drury says. "I've stopped worrying about it." He pauses, a half-smile betraying the punch line. "Anyway," he says, "we're certainly not going back in the closet." By Shea Jennings Photo by Mickie Winters performances that spoke broadly to social injustice. Te only problem: Nearly all of Pandora's works to date were gay- or lesbian-themed. After some nudging from an advisor, Drury embraced the idea of an LGBT company. Since then, Pandora has staged intense works like Bent (about the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust) and lighter fare, such as last season's My Big Gay Italian Wedding and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche. Tis Is My Heart for You, in January, promises to be a powerful piece from Kentucky writer Silas House, addressing the turmoil in an Appalachian town when two boys are accused of being gay; in June, Drury admits that one of his biggest challenges is choosing timely and relevant material from a plethora of new gay- and lesbian-themed works. Twenty-nine-year-old actor Neill Robertson says, "We have to go with the ebb and fow of the world." Te "we" is Pandora Productions, a theater company that presents works on themes in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. As producing artistic director, the 51-year-old Drury oversees fve productions per season. More than 600 subscribers see what he describes as "theater around LGBT issues but with universal ideas." Te 2013-'14 season began in August with Naked Boys Singing (exactly what it sounds like) and runs through next spring, with all shows at the Henry Clay Teatre downtown on South Tird Street. From Nov. 14 to 24: Standing on Ceremony, a collection of short plays on same-sex marriage by popular active playwrights like Moisés Kaufman and Paul Rudnick. As conversations in and about the LGBT community have changed — think recent headlines about marriage equality and gays in the military — so has the position of Pandora. Drury admits that one of his biggest challenges is choosing timely and relevant material from a plethora of new gay- and lesbian-themed works. Twenty-nine-year-old actor Neill Robertson says, "We have to go with the ebb and fow of the world." Pandora began in 1995 as a project of local actors Bo Cecil, Billy Blake Hall and Craig Swatt. Te three wanted to write a musical based on the Greek myth of Pandora's box and decided to put on other occasional shows to help with funding. Tey never produced the original Pandora project, but the name lived on as the company did one or two shows annually, often recycling sets and even props broken during performances, like a wand once thrown from the stage because it had, Drury says, "lost its magic." In 1999, exhausted from 20 years of travel and searching for acting work, Drury returned to his native Louisville. He took over Pandora from Cecil, the only remaining original founder. "It was basically handed to me in, well, a box," Drury says, laughing. "Tey were like, 'Have at it!'" He originally envisioned Pandora will become only the second theater company in the country to do Marry Me a Little, built on songs cut from Stephen Sondheim musicals and recast with gay and lesbian couples. In 2011, Pandora collected stories from members of the Louisville Youth Group, which reaches out to gay and lesbian kids, and from a now-defunct LGBT group at the University of Louisville to present a staged reading of the students' words. A few years back, Pandora solicited new works on LGBT themes and received 98 submissions from across the country. Kevin Borland, president of the company's board of directors, says, "Provocative theater is important, regardless of your identity." He mentions Actors Teatre's "phenomenally well-received" Girlfriend (about two gay teenagers falling in love) last winter as evidence of increased interest in LGBT theater. By his estimate, heterosexual couples make up roughly a third of Pandora's audience, and heterosexual actors frequently appear in productions. Ben Gierhart has performed with Pandora since 2010 and will next appear in Tis Is My Heart for You. He says the company's many gay and lesbian actors often identify with the characters they play onstage, which strengthens performances. In Abraham Lincoln Was a F-----, his portrayal of Calvin Hayes, a gay teenager struggling with his sexuality, was one such moment. Gierhart, 24, called on his own teenage years and coming-out to build a more layered and visceral performance. "Pandora taught me how to be both a better professional and a proud gay man," he says. Drury adds, "We believe it makes a diference to give people a place to explore and celebrate their identities. Here, they don't have to be anyone else." Robertson, the actor in his late 20s, says audiences enjoy the quality of Pandora's performances and the common human experiences depicted, regardless of specifc content. "Love is what it is," he says. "It doesn't matter who it's between, as long as it's good theater." 11.13 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 151