THE ONLY THING STRAIGHT IN THIS ROOM
IS THE LINE TO THE CREDENZA

Messy White Gays—which opened November 2 at Off-Broadway’s Duke on 42nd Street—is a contemporary drawing-room comedy, a modern spin on the comedy of manners, built on witty exchanges, social commentary, and the absurdities of its characters. Classic models include Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Noël Coward’s Hay Fever. In the television age, the genre evolved into situation comedies—All in the Family, my all-time favorite. Writer and star Drew Droege is unquestionably quick-witted and laugh-out-loud funny, but here he feels more like a comedian who wrote a play than a playwright who happens to be funny.

Drew Droege and the castAaron Jackson

In a sleek living room on the 52nd floor of a pencil tower overlooking Central Park South, Caden (Aaron Jackson), a son of the Smuckers dynasty, is in a throuple gone horribly wrong. He and his partner Brecken (James Cusati-Moyer) have grown tired of their third and, in a burst of bad judgment, murder him. Their timing couldn’t be worse: two friends, Addison (Derek Chadwick) and Thacker (Pete Zias), drop by for brunch, along with an outraged neighbor, Karl (Droege). The guests have a suspicion that something doesn’t smell right—both metaphorically and literally. Little do they know that it’s the corpse, stuffed into a designer credenza. And ultimately, concealment proves impossible.

Derek Chadwick, Pete Zias, Drew Droege, Aaron Jackson, James Cusati-Moyer

Like Kevin Elyot’s My Night with Reg, in which a circle of gay friends gather after a death only to reveal overlapping romantic entanglements, Messy White Gays also uses a corpse as its focal point. But here, the body is actually in the room—and rather than mourned, the overlapping reveal is that he’s despised by all. Their eventual solution for disposing of him goes spectacularly wrong, providing the “messy” in the title and the final, shockingly funny payoff.

Derek Chadwick and Drew Droege

Much of Droege’s satire comes from generational clashes between his older character and the younger men. The dialogue bubbles with talk of race, political correctness, and the endless rules of what white people—and gay men—should or shouldn’t say. Add to that a torrent of gossip about celebrities, Broadway, nightlife, restaurants, being canceled, and politics, all fueled by booze and drugs, and the result is a manic symphony of gay chatter. Some debates stretch past their comic breaking point, but the high-octane pacing keeps the energy from flagging.

Pete Zias and James Cusati-Moyer

The cast commits fully: Chadwick nails the vapid beauty with nothing behind the eyes; Zias is a coked-up comic whirlwind; Jackson and Cusati-Moyer make their charming amorality irresistible; and Droege sneers with the authority of someone who’s seen it all and doesn’t much like what he sees.

James Cusati-Moyer

Director Mike Donahue maintains a brisk, fever-pitched pace. Alexander Dodge’s scenic design—a wide, elegant living room with a wall of windows overlooking a photorealistic view of Central Park—sets the tone of hollow luxury. The costumes (James + AC), lighting (Jen Schriever), and sound (Sinan Refik Zafar) all do their jobs with polished perfection, while Jeremy Chernick’s special effects deliver the production’s biggest and most unsettling surprise.

James Cusati-Moyer and Aaron Jackson

By curtain’s end, everyone remains as messy, white, and gay as when they started. Nothing is learned, nothing is gained—but much has been laughed at. For many in the audience, the laugh fest was clearly enjoyed.

Derek Chadwick, James Cusati-Moyer, Pete Zias, and Aaron Jackson

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photos by Marc J. Franklin

Messy White Gays
The Duke on 42nd Street at New 42 Studios, 229 W. 42nd St.
for tickets, visit Messy White Gays

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Drew Droege

Gregory Fletcher is an author, theater professor, playwright, director, and stage manager. His publishing credits include a craft book on playwriting entitled Shorts and Briefs, as well as a collection entitled A Playwright’s Dozen: 13 short plays. Other publishing includes two YA novels (Other People’s Crazy, and Other People’s Drama), 2 novellas in the series Inclusive Bedtime Stories, 2 short stories in The Night Bazaar series, and five essays. Website, Facebook, Instagram.