"Dare"

by Allan Baker

In his 82nd year, Jack, a resident of a nursing home in the Central Valley of California, has decided to end his life by refusing food and starving himself to death. His young and new "consulting gerontologist", Josh, has been summoned by the nursing home's administrator to discover the reason for Jack's decision. Both Jack and Josh are gay, though from very different generations. In their afternoon of...

In his 82nd year, Jack, a resident of a nursing home in the Central Valley of California, has decided to end his life by refusing food and starving himself to death. His young and new "consulting gerontologist", Josh, has been summoned by the nursing home's administrator to discover the reason for Jack's decision. Both Jack and Josh are gay, though from very different generations. In their afternoon of conversation and flashbacks from Jack's past (San Francisco, '73; Fire Island, '78; New York City, '87; and New York City, '90), we come to understand the "play" in which Jack, the theatrical veteran, feels the "dramatic arc" of his character is complete. This play confronts the history of gay liberation, issues of aging in the gay community, the dialogue between advocates of "gay assimilation" and "gay exceptionalism"...and the role of drag queens.

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"Dare"

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  • Stephen Byrum: "Dare" by Allan Baker
    “

    Baker has crafted a beautiful, living, breathing entity of the gay experience. A solemn reminder to the youth not to forget where we come from and what it cost, and that the true protest is to be unabashedly yourself. As a gay man, I was truly moved by this piece. It is powerful. It is relevant. It is real. It makes you imagine a world with what could have been from what was lost. Thank you, Allan. Thank you.

    Baker has crafted a beautiful, living, breathing entity of the gay experience. A solemn reminder to the youth not to forget where we come from and what it cost, and that the true protest is to be unabashedly yourself. As a gay man, I was truly moved by this piece. It is powerful. It is relevant. It is real. It makes you imagine a world with what could have been from what was lost. Thank you, Allan. Thank you.

    ”
Jack: 82 year old gay male. He has experienced the arc of gay history since Stonewall, but is now old, in failing health and without money.

Josh: 28 year old gay male. A doctor who is beginning to specialize in gerontology, he has lived all his life in the Bay Area and has been comfortably “out” and accepted as gay all his life. He is in a same sex marriage to his high school boyfriend.

Younger Jack: 42 to 59 year old gay male. We see him grow from a closeted, middle aged man working in finance to a completely “out” political activist, book store owner who works in the theatre and even tries “drag”, at one point.

David: 19 to 36 year old gay male. Jack’s lover, mentor and muse, David grows from a wild, free-living and outrageous gay boy to an accomplished fashion and costume designer, then a committed political activist in the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City

Nurse Assistant: 30’s male. An employee of the nursing home, he is an openly abusive homophobe and advocate of what he sees as “the real America”.

Development History

  • Workshop, Ground Floor Theatre, Austin, 2015

Production History

  • Professional, Desert Rose Playhouse, Palm Springs, CA, 2018

Awards

  • Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Play Contest
    Castillo Theatre, New York City
    Winner
    2017