Faggot by Lynwoodt Bernard

Faggot is not a high budget production.There are no elaborate costumes. There are no props, no cast of thousands. There is no expensive state of the art multimedia or elaborate sound and lighting.  There isn't even a curtain. In fact, there is not much of a set- just a black platform and a black set of stairs to nowhere. Faggot is just one man- writer and actor Lynwoodt Bernard. Of course some of this can be explained by the fact that the  Dept. of Film and Theatre Studies Balcony Theater isn't much of a theater at all, just a larger than normal bare platform behind the Balcony of the Fine Arts Building in what would otherwise be just a  rather large classroom, but this show doesn't need elaborate costumes or a fancy set. Stripped to the bare minimum Faggot leaves you with the raw emotion of one mans journey to accepting his sexuality.

I said before that one man shows that one-person show tend to be very hit or miss no matter how well written the piece and no matter how talented the actor. In this case this show is definitely a hit. It didn't exactly amaze me, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an excellent piece and well worth seeing. While the subject matter was pretty controversial I'm not exactly its target audience. It was nice to get an inside look on someone else's journey through life. The emotional depth of this play was probably the strongest part of the piece. Importantly mostly because of the terrible acoustics in the Balcony Theater some of the more poignant and moving parts were difficult to hear.

For the most part Faggot was well put together show that kept the audience capitvated and mesmerized. Bernard lept around the stage, keeping the piece as active as it was entertaining. While there were no real fight scenes (the only "fight" in the play is described more than mimed), Bernard's use of physicality added an important dimension. While most of the piece was from the point of view of one character, Micheal aka Mikey, Bernard used his voice and body to leap in and out of other characters in Micheal's life effortlessly. 

After the one hour performance Bernard and the director, UGA professor George Contini, held a talk back about the the show and the process behind it. Among other things Bernard explained that the title was meant to be provocative to make people think about how he felt when he heard it. While the show is not autobiographical he did explain that it was inspired by his experiences and the experiences of his friends.He also talked about what it was like to come back to a piece he had done 10 years ago and how it had spread without much effort on his part.

There is one more performance tomorrow (Sunday) at 2:30 pm. Admission is $5 and proceeds go to the Graduate Acting Ensemble. The show runs aproxamately one hour and there will be a talk back after the  performance.