Diva Theater is staging “Mothers and Sons,” a Tony-nominated work by a major playwright, timed for Pride Month.
It was written by the late Terrence McNally and nominated for the Tony Award for best play in 2014.
McNally was involved in creating stage productions of “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Ragtime,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and others. In May, a portion of the New York City street where he lived was renamed in his honor.
Performances are Friday-Sunday and June 20-22 at the Olde Brick Theatre, Scranton.
Seth Golden, Gabe Catanese and Brad Vile in “Mothers and Sons.” (Diva Theater)
Cast members of “Mothers and Sons,” Seth Golden, seated; Brad Vile and and Poshi Walker. (Diva Theater)
Brad Vile and Poshi Walker (Diva Theater)
Donations for Rainbow Alliance, a regional LGBTQ+ group, will be collected at every performance. Tickets will be $1 off for cash sales at the door, for people wearing something representing Pride.
The play centers on a mother whose son died of AIDS. Years later, she visits his surviving boyfriend, who is not infected with HIV. By then, he has a younger husband and a son. She has to come to terms with her feelings about her son and the life he might have lived.
Seth Golden of Scranton plays Will, the younger husband. He believes it is the first time regional community theater has staged the play.
Golden said the play is both serious and funny and the type of story needed on stage right now.
“Because l think the visibility for LGBTQ+ people has diminished the last couple of months, a year. You know, with everything going on in our country,” he said. “There has been a lot of hate, there has been a lot of misunderstanding.
“People before my generation spent so much time advocating and fighting for our rights and we got the right to marry and now you see a lot of gay families,” he said.
Golden sees a backlash. “Now they are trying to take us back in time, instead of moving forward. So this play is all about love and what really makes a family. Nobody is different than anybody ese. We are all the same in the end.”
Golden said the play resonates with his own experience as a gay man.
The age difference between the couple is also a lens for different coming-of-age journeys, he said. The character of Will grew up in a more accepting world than his husband, one less under the shadow of the AIDS epidemic.
The play had a five-month Broadway run in 2014.
“Mothers and Sons” is a sequel to “Andre’s Mother,” an earlier play that became a television movie starring Richard Thomas. It won the Emmy Award for writing in the miniseries and TV movie category in 1990.
LGBTQ+ characters and stories are represented in Northeast Pennsylvania theater. The Big Gay StorySlam, a competition between storytellers, is Saturday in Scranton. Community theaters have performed “Rent,” both parts of “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” “Avenue Q,” “La Cage aux Folles” and “Cabaret,” among others.
Friday and Saturday performances of “Mothers and Sons” are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. General admission is $15. Tickets for students, seniors and veterans are $12. Make reservations by leaving a message at 570-209-7766.
If you go
What: “Mothers and Sons,” a Tony-winning play by Terrence McNally, presented by community theater group Diva Theater.
When: Friday-Sunday; and June 20-22. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m.
Where: The Olde Brick Theatre, 126 W. Market St., Scranton.
Tickets: General admission is $15. Students, seniors and veterans tickets are $12. Tickets will be $1 off cash sales at the door for people wearing something representing Pride. Make reservations by leaving a message at 570-209-7766.
Details: Donations will be collected for the Rainbow Alliance, a regional LGBTQ + organization.