Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Loud and Proud

How does a contemporary play about coming out stack up against one penned in 1934? See for yourself at the second annual Summer Pride at Chandler Festival, which stages readings of three plays faithfully outlining the LGBTQ experience. Funny and emotional, Cassie Keet’s Still Fighting It is the story of a mother surprised by her daughter’s new sweetheart. Conversely, Lillian Hellman’s well-aged drama The Children’s Hour takes a darker turn as a schoolgirl fabricates a relationship between her teachers. And Philip Dawkins’ The Homosexuals offers a fresh look at 21st-century relationships through the eyes of a group of gay Chicagoans. Each piece raises powerful questions ripe for the discussions that follow.