Entertainment :: Theatre
Joey Pelletier on ’Where Moments Hung Before’by Kilian MelloyThursday Aug 13, 2009 Joey Pelletier’s first full-length play, Where Moments Hung Before (previously reviewed at EDGE), starts with the spirit of Jasper (David Lucas), recently deceased, looking down lovingly at his lover, Timothy (Mikey DiLoreto), and reminiscing about their time together. Jasper might only have a short window for such recollections: already, the memory of his years on earth are fading.
That first scene establishes much about what the play’s themes are: connection, loss, grief, love. But there’s one more major component at work, which is AIDS--and, given that the play is set right now, and not in the 1980s or 1990s, the death of a gay man from AIDS despite his regimen of medications is a sobering reminder that the plague is not yet over.
But Pelletier isn’t interested in preaching or polemics. He creates a variety of characters, all of whom are vividly written and portrayed; they are Jasper’s friends and family, and as they come together at Jasper’s wake, old flames are stoked and hot resentments flare up. It’s the stuff of good old-fashioned drama, but Pelletier and the rest of the cast (Pelletier also has a role, as Jasper’s best friend Patrick) infuse the play with moments of high-flying humor: old fashioned, in this case, doesn’t man musty, dusty, soggy, or bleak.
Nor is the play a work of camp, despite the complicated relationships that unfold on stage: Patrick, for example, confronts his ex, Quinn (James Aitchison), who is now engaged to a woman. The sisters of the deceased bicker and rage, their discontents ranging from the petty irritations of the moment to the atavistic grievances of family. And while it’s an old axiom that a kid will steal the show, it’s a rare 12-year-old in theater or anywhere else who demonstrates such a mix of self-possession and childhood as does Lucy (Barbara Woodall), who takes Jasper’s HIV+ status in stride, but who looks askance at her mother’s idea to plan the wake and Lucy’s birthday party as back-to-back celebrations.
Joey Pelletier recently corresponded with EDGE about his new play, which is currently in its inaugural production at The Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, located at 949 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.
EDGE: "Where Moments Hung Before" takes place in the wake of a gay man’s death from AIDS-related pneumonia. What I find important about this is how you set the story in the present day--it’s a powerful reminder that, despite what some people think, AIDS is still a dangerous disease: people still do get sick and die, despite the success of modern medications to control HIV. Was that your starting point for the play?
Joey Pelletier: Well, yes and no. I stumbled back and forth a bit with Jasper and the disease.
Growing up in Maine, I spent a lot of time in used bookstores, sitting on the carpet thumbing through pages, searching for relatable words, "gay," or "homo." I just wanted to relate. It was difficult, ’cause the books I found were usually associated with AIDS. And I didn’t have a complete understanding for what that was cause I’d never seen the disease face to face.
Like my character Timmy, we had watched "The Ryan White Story," and the school system was really ahead of their game I guess, ’cause the teachers were getting the word out to us as early as eight grade. But I didn’t see anyone, talk to anyone else who was queer, let alone [who] was Positive.
About four years ago, an ex of mine told me, in secrecy, that a close mutual friend of ours was Positive. In the years that followed I watched him--without judgment--live. I was 24 and I thought, "This is real for him."
The books I’d always found myself reading were from the ’70s and ’80s. And the plays were set then or as late as the ’90s. And those men always seemed to be surrounded by AIDS. I wanted to write a piece that was about people who were born at the beginning of the ’80s, on the verge of thirty and "discovering" AIDS. ’Cause the disease is still among us. Jesus, every time I get checked out, I’m sweating and shaking for days surrounding the exam!
EDGE: "Where Moments Hung Before" is also, and is primarily, a family drama, but it includes all sorts of peripheral connections: a best friend, his ex-boyfriend, the ex’s new girlfriend... Was this a deliberate choice to reflect the extended nature of gay and lesbian "families of choice?"
Joey Pelletier: A big Yes. I’ve always had a tremendous amount of love and support from my mother and sister. My brother is one of my best friends. I know there are a lot of people in my extended blood related family who love me, too. But I don’t know where I’d be without the people I’ve been fortunate enough to have met within the last ten years. I know that even if I’m drunk and full of self-hatred, crying on a beach in Miami at 4 a.m., I can call them and they will answer the phone ’cause they love me and they know me.
It’s important for me to be around people who, at least, kinda get me. People who know my darker days and love me for them.
The chaos of Prop. 8 really brought our "families" together here in Boston. I loved looking around the rallies and seeing all these groups of people together, holding each other, fighting and loving.
I wanted Jasper to have that. I thought it was important that Patrick and little Lucy have a close bond, and I wanted it to be believable that one of his best friends could be a 12-year-old girl, because they had made themselves family.
EDGE: Perhaps the most enjoyable thing about the play is how the characters, almost all of them nicely fleshed out into dimensional people, all bounce off one another. The cast have some great chemistry going on. How hard was it to assemble a cast that worked together as well as this one does? And did the actors who were cast change your perception of the characters you’d written--did you find the dialogue being revised to better fit the actors’ interpretations?
Joey Pelletier: I wrote the part of [Jasper’s younger sister] Fiona for my friend Julia Specht and the part of Lucy for Barbara Woodall ’cause I love them. They are part of my Family.
I’ve wanted Danielle Leeber to direct since Day 1, and we workshopped [the play] with the two girls and with many, many friends in the Boston area, and with a few of the cast members like Jenny Reagan [who plays Morgan, Jasper’s older sister], Mikey DiLoreto, and Dave Lucas.
During the workshops I drew from the actors, my friends. I knew if something sounded weird coming from them it wasn’t going to work. But Danielle always made it perfectly clear that we would have professional auditions for all the roles (minus Fiona and Lucy). Danielle, Julia (who is also an artistic associate for Boston Actors Theater), and I sat through Stage Source auditions and called back about twenty people. At our private auditions for WMHB we watched over one hundred people go after the remaining 8 roles. It was important to have Julia and Babs in the room, or to throw them on stage with a potential Patrick or Yael [Fiona’s lover, played by Evelyn Howe].
In production I told the actors that if something wasn’t working we’d talk about it and we’d fix it.
EDGE: One notable bit of casting is yourself in the role of the deceased man’s best friend. Why did you take this role? Did you envision yourself in that part from the beginning?
Joey Pelletier: We originally cast an amazing actor in the role of Patrick, but [he] became Equity and we lost him during production. Danielle asked me (though she always says she begged me) to step in. I thought about it. I thought about what it would mean to take on this role that very early on was the most vibrant expression of myself. (Though not so much anymore.) I tried it out one night, and the chemistry felt so good, and most importantly it was fun. So I did it.
But, no, I never envisioned myself in this role. I’ve never been so comfortable in a role, though the part tears me up by the end, as I recently lost a good friend.
EDGE: The acting and directorial style is naturalistic and unforced, which seems to work well for this play. Was that something you had input about, or was that all up to director Danielle Leeber?
Joey Pelletier: Leeber’s directorial style is very naturalistic and unforced, and that’s why I chose her. She asks actors the tough questions, and looks for real answers. She directs the actor in a way that he/she is able to get inside the character’s mine and body and soul.
We work shopped this show together, and she was an extremely influential and inspiring component.
EDGE: Tell me about the title. Is "Where Moments Hung Before" from a poem? It sounds like it might be.
Joey Pelletier: The title comes from Imogen Heap’s [song] "Hide and Seek" (which Danielle used as our Curtain Call). We went through a ton of titles that never felt right, and then one night I had this song on and was reworking the end of the play [where] the characters of Morgan and Timmy were talking about not remembering everything, and I heard, "Oily marks appear on walls, where pleasure moments hung before..." and I thought, "Hey, Girl, hey! That’s how I feel. That’s how every one of my characters feels right now." The soundtrack to WMHB might as well be another character.
EDGE: The character of Quinn is an interesting case--he’s not exactly "ex gay," but he is a gay man engaged to a woman. It’s fascinating that you made that choice for the character, and interesting that you don’t belabor it or demystify it by offering much (or any) explanation, aside from a suggestion that he’s only engaged to Jordan [played by Elise Wulff] because she’s got money.
Joey Pelletier: Quinn is a very dear character to me--so is Jordan--and was originally based on an ex of mine. Though, I’ve never lost a lover to a woman!
I guess I just felt like my generation sees this a lot. You know, people dating/loving/fucking whomever they are drawn to. I see a substantial amount of this. And I also see gay men making lives/homes with Ladies. I wanted the actors who played Patrick, Quinn, and Jordan to be skilled enough so that I wouldn’t have to over-explain the situation, and the subtle glances or movements given by James and Elise speak volumes and are much smoother than if I had written in a monologue or awkward convo.
And I think the labels are becoming smeared. Lesbian, Gay, Straight, Bi, Trans--they all kind of have definite and restrictive connotations. Yes, I like boys--well one boy, but I kind of like boobs, so who knows!
EDGE: Another interesting thing is that James Aitchison, the actor playing Quinn, is from South Africa, so he has a distinctive accent--again, that’s unexplained, probably because the script doesn’t call for an accent. But what an interesting choice to allow the actor not to try to sound American. It suggests all sorts of possibilities for who Quinn is, and why he might have done some of the things he’s done to his ex, Patrick.
Joey Pelletier: We saw James at the Big Stage Source auditions and loved him. He has this beautiful South African accent. We called him in to audition privately for WMHB and during his first cold read covered up his accent for an American accent and Danielle called him out on it and insisted he be comfortable. I loved it. I didn’t feel like it needed any explanation, and told him that if he had problems saying anything I wrote ’cause of the accent to tell me, and we’d make it more natural for him.
And... the accent is kind of sexy, and I find very useful for my portrayal of Patrick. James has this proper sexy South African voice, and I speak in a sloppy, sassy, New England drawl sort of thing, and I hope the two play well off each other. It feels like it does on stage in the moment.
EDGE: Are you, at this point, playing with other ideas for plays you might like to write?
Joey Pelletier: I’m working on two plays. One is a Queer Vampire/Ninja drama. And the other is a comedy about a Gay Jewess about to get married and her relationship with her mother, who is a Rabbi.
"Where Moments Hung Before" plays August 13, 14, and 15 at 8:00 p.m. and August 16 at 2:00 p.m. at The Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, located at 949 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.
Tickets cost $15 ($10 for students with valid ID) and can be obtained online at the Boston Actors Theater Web site or by calling 866-811-4111.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
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