''The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures'' is a 2009 play by American playwright

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...

. The title was inspired by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

's '' The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism'' and

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning se ...

's '' Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures''.Gans, Andrew
"Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide Begins Guthrie Run May 15"
, playbill.com, May 15, 2009

Production history

The world premiere was directed by

Michael Greif Michael Greif (born ca. 1959 in Brooklyn, New YorkWelsh, Anne Marie, "New York and family call Michael Greif home", ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'', October 10, 1999, p.E-1) is an American stage director. He has won three Obie Awards and received ...

at the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

, opening on May 15, 2009 in previews and running through June 28.Listing
guthrietheater.org, accessed ay 31, 2009 The

Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American L ...

and the Signature Theater Company co-produced a somewhat rewritten version of the play, which premiered

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at the Public Theater on March 23, 2011 in previews, with opening on May 5 and closing on June 12. The play was directed by

and featured

Michael Cristofer Michael Cristofer (born January 22, 1945) is an American actor, playwright and filmmaker. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play for '' The Shadow Box'' in 1977. From 2015 to 2019, he played the role of Phillip ...

Linda Emond Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...

Michael Esper Michael James Esper (born December 1, 1975) is an American actor, best known for his stage work. Early life Esper was born in Manhattan and raised in Montclair, New Jersey. He is the son of acting teachers William and Suzanne Esper, of the W ...

and

Stephen Spinella Stephen Spinella (born October 11, 1956) is an American stage, television, and film actor. Early life Spinella was born in Naples, Italy, to a father who was an American naval airplane mechanic. He grew up in Glendale, Arizona, and graduated fr ...

.Hetrick, Adam
"Public Theater Takes a Page From Tony Kushner's Intelligent Homosexual's Guide Beginning March 23"
playbill.com, March 23, 2011

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...

presented the play's West Coast premiere starting in May 2014. Berkeley Rep Artistic Director

Tony Taccone Tony Taccone (born July 4, 1951) is an American theater director, and the former Artistic Director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California. Early life Tony Taccone was born on July 4, 1951 in Queens, New York, to an Italian-Americ ...

directed, and actors included

Mark Margolis Mark Margolis (; born November 26, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alberto "The Shadow" in '' Scarface'', Antonio Nappa in '' Oz'', and Hector Salamanca in ''Breaking Bad'' and '' Better Call Saul''. His performance in ''Break ...

as Gus,

Deirdre Lovejoy Deirdre Lovejoy (born June 30, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman on HBO’s ''The Wire''. She is also known for her roles as a serial killer Heather Taffet (aka "The Gr ...

as Empty, and Lou Liberatore as Pill.Show details
at berkeleyrep.org The play received its London premiere in October 2016 at the

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

in a production directed by Michael Boyd and starring David Calder as Gus, and

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...

as Empty.

Plot

The play looks at the life of a 20th-century thinker, retired

longshoreman A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number ...

Gus Marcantonio, who is feeling confused and defeated by the 21st century. In summer 2007, his sister, who has been staying with him for a year, invites Gus's three children (who in turn bring along spouses, ex-spouses, lovers and more) to a most unusual family reunion in their Brooklyn

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

Original Guthrie Theater cast

* Mark Benninghofen as Adam Butler * Kathleen Chalfant as Benedicta Immacolata Marcantonio (Bennie) * Sun Mee Chomet as Sooze Moon Marcantonio *

as Augusto Giuseppe Garibaldi Marcantonio (Gus) *

as Maria Teresa Marcantonio (M.T.) *

as Eli Wolcott * Charity Jones as Maeve Ludens * Ron Menzel as Vito Marcantonio (V, Vic, Vinnie) * Michelle O'Neill as Shelle O'Neill * Michael Potts as Paul Pierce *

as Pier Luigi Marcantonio (Pill)

London premiere cast

- October 2016 * David Calder as Gus * Richard Clothier as Pill * Daniel Flynn as Adam *

as Empty *

Sara Kestelman Sara Kestelman (born 12 May 1944) is an English actress. She is known for her role as Lady Frances Brandon, Lady Jane Grey's mother, in the 1986 film '' Lady Jane'', as well as for providing the voice of Kreia in '' Star Wars Knights of the Old ...

as Clio *

Katie Leung Katie Leung (born 8 August 1987; ) is a Scottish actress. Initially famous for playing Cho Chang, the titular character's first love interest in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, she is also known for her roles as Caitlyn in the animated ser ...

as Sooze *

Luke Newberry Luke Newberry (born 19 February 1990) is an English actor. He is best known for his leading role in the drama television series '' In the Flesh'' (2013–2014), which earned him a British Academy Television Award nomination. Early life Newberry ...

as Eli * Sirine Saba as Maeve *

Rhashan Stone Rhashan Stone is an American actor and comedian based in the UK. He is best known for appearing in many comedy shows such as ''Desmond's'' and ''Mutual Friends''. Stone is also a stage actor who has performed in numerous productions for The Roy ...

as Paul *

Lex Shrapnel Alexander Carey Shrapnel (born 6 October 1979) is an English actor and voice actor. Early life Shrapnel was born on 6 October 1979 in London, the second of three boys for actor John Shrapnel and Francesca Ann (née Bartley). He is the brother of ...

as V *

Katy Stephens Katy Stephens is a British actress and former children's presenter. She has appeared in leading roles with Shakespeare's Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company with whom she is an Associate Artist. She played Nicky in '' London's Burning'', a ...

as Shelle

Early reception

According to an article in the ''

St. Paul Pioneer Press The ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'' is a newspaper based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It serves the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the east metro, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington counties, ...

'', only local critics were encouraged to review the play. National critics like Ben Brantley of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', who was originally invited to review the play, were asked to wait for a future production.Papatola, Domini
"Kushner to critics: Please don't review my new play; Critics to Guthrie: Thanks for mishandling this"
twincities.com, May 29, 2009 The reviews that have been published have been somewhat mixed, acknowledging that the play is in early stages, while praising many of its positive moments. The ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' ran a review stating "The lines sound great in the actors' mouths, their performances are excellent and Greif dances this show across the Guthrie stage with humor and muscular strokes. It is a very American work - a dense rush of ideas." While going on to observe that the "operatic cacophony at times skates precipitously close to the razor's edge of incoherence."

References

External links

Internet Off-Broadway Database listingPlay Guide for Guthrie Theater production
{{DEFAULTSORT:Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism Plays by Tony Kushner 2009 plays Fiction set in 2007 Brooklyn in fiction Plays set in New York City