The Temperamentals by Jon Marans is playing at the New Theatre until 3 March. It is in association with the Sydney Mardi Gras and is an Australian Premiere.
Kevin Jackson the director has striped the play down to rely almost totally on the quality of the actors and the play itself. It is a brave move but it works and actors have to be commended for the role(s) they play.
Jon Marans has produced a piece of work that marks an important historical time in gay social history. It is set in the early 1950's long before Stonewall. It is a docu-drama based on true stories about Harry Hay and a group of men who set up the Mattachine Society. The Mattachine was organised to assert the human rights for sexual minorities. It is not a play that packs a powerful punch, there is drama and laughter, but it quietly and simply re-tells the stories of these men and their lives. I use the word 'quietly' because all the time you are reminded how secretive they had to be; living in fear of being arrested. Of course this happens to Dale Jennings, he is arrested for allegedly soliciting a police officer in a toilet. Dale confessed to being a homosexual (this was unheard of as people shied away from public scrutiny) but denied any wrongdoing. Dale was acquitted on the basis of police intimidation, harassment, and entrapment of homosexuals, and the case was dismissed. It was a landmark case and increased peoples awareness of the gay movement. Behind the actors throughout the show you will see projections of the men themselves which is a constant reminder that this is a true story. You are reminded how unacceptable it was to be gay, you had to be married with children to be socially acceptable and even to advance your career, as Rudi discovers. You see conflict in the men between what they would like to be and what they have to be. Harry Hay (Douglas Hansell) the leader of The Mattachine is living a lie, he is married but having an affair with Rudi Gernriech (Daniel Scott). He also wrote a manifesto for homosexual rights. He eventually divorced realising that marriage wasn't going to 'cure' him!
This docu-drama serves as a reminder that we shouldn't forget what life was like for gay men and woman and how brave these men were and that even today people are still fighting for Gay Rights, with marriage being top of the agenda at the moment.
If you like social history you will enjoy this and if you intend on going to the Mardi Gras Parade seeing this first will give it a more powerful meaning.
Listen to our interview with Daniel Scott (Rudi Gernreich)
