The Jamb

by J.Stephen Brantley

Gay punks Tuffer and Roderick are turning forty. Neither wants to face it. While Tuffer continues to smoke, snort, and screw his way through Manhattan’s collegiate male population, Roderick’s gone straightedge, embracing activism and martial arts. With the arrival of Tuffer’s latest boy toy, Brandon, Roderick can take no more. After a disastrous quasi-intervention, Tuffer agrees to a sobering-up at Roderick’s...

Gay punks Tuffer and Roderick are turning forty. Neither wants to face it. While Tuffer continues to smoke, snort, and screw his way through Manhattan’s collegiate male population, Roderick’s gone straightedge, embracing activism and martial arts. With the arrival of Tuffer’s latest boy toy, Brandon, Roderick can take no more. After a disastrous quasi-intervention, Tuffer agrees to a sobering-up at Roderick’s mother’s house in rural New Mexico.

But when Roderick’s mother Abigail, a formerly successful folk singer, throws the guys a very organic birthday party, twenty years of tension comes to a head. They must confront one another, and themselves, in a kind of spiritual exile on the high desert. Each is on the verge of something new, almost somewhere, in the jamb.

The Jamb is a queer coming-of-middle-age story set in 2008. J.Stephen Brantley’s punk rock rom-com on crystal meth examines how addiction, politics and pop culture have impacted the lives of gay American men who grew up post-Stonewall, pre-Will And Grace. The award-winning 2016 production was directed by Obie-winner David Drake (The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me). Mature audiences only.

TUFFER is a very charming thirty-nine, but can pass for much younger in a bar at closing time. He’s a trust fund baby and ivy league flunker who continues to party like it’s nineteen ninety-nine.

RODERICK is Tuffer’s best friend. After years of reckless behavior, Roderick did a three-sixty in preparation for his fortieth. Now he’s taken up the challenge of reforming Tuffer too.

BRANDON is a twenty-year-old college student and part-time go-go boy. He may not be entirely innocent but he is certainly still green enough to be a romantic.

ABIGAIL is Roderick’s mother. Once a successful singer-songwriter, she has mostly retired to a hilltop in rural New Mexico.

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The Jamb

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: The Jamb

    A funny comedy that captures the difficulties in growing up, the issues within friendship that need to be resolved and how they go from there. Well done.

    A funny comedy that captures the difficulties in growing up, the issues within friendship that need to be resolved and how they go from there. Well done.

  • Nick Malakhow: The Jamb

    A funny, nuanced comedy about gay male friendship and the intricacies and dangers of "Peter Pan" syndrome that can prevent men from actualizing as adults and living healthy lives. THE JAMB looks at this issue in a uniquely queer way, touching upon the factors in gay male culture that can lead to these unhealthy patterns. The titular "jamb" reflects the different ways Tuffer and Roderick experience liminality--age, identity, and the "era of gay" they grew up in, feeling both the privileges and amorphous dissatisfaction that came along with it. The characters are all multi-dimensional and...

    A funny, nuanced comedy about gay male friendship and the intricacies and dangers of "Peter Pan" syndrome that can prevent men from actualizing as adults and living healthy lives. THE JAMB looks at this issue in a uniquely queer way, touching upon the factors in gay male culture that can lead to these unhealthy patterns. The titular "jamb" reflects the different ways Tuffer and Roderick experience liminality--age, identity, and the "era of gay" they grew up in, feeling both the privileges and amorphous dissatisfaction that came along with it. The characters are all multi-dimensional and delightful!

  • John Bavoso: The Jamb

    I love a play that tackles serious issues with lots of comedy, and THE JAMB is one of the best I’ve read. The metatheatrics are a lot of fun and the relationships feel genuine and lived in. I think this would be a joy to both act in and watch. Highly recommended!

    I love a play that tackles serious issues with lots of comedy, and THE JAMB is one of the best I’ve read. The metatheatrics are a lot of fun and the relationships feel genuine and lived in. I think this would be a joy to both act in and watch. Highly recommended!

View all 5 recommendations

Development History

  • Type Workshop, Organization Hard Sparks, Year 2015
  • Type Reading, Organization TOSOS - The Other Side Of Silence, Year 2012
  • Type Reading, Organization Dixon Place HOT! Festival of Queer Performance, Year 2009
  • Type Reading, Organization Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, Year 2009

Production History

  • Type Professional, Organization Hard Sparks, Year 2016

Awards

  • Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award
    New York Innovative Theatre Foundation
    Winner
    2017
  • Best Staged Reading
    Planet Connections Theatre Festivity
    Winner
    2009
  • Outstanding Actor In A Lead Role
    New York Innovative Theatre Foundation
    Winner
    2017
  • Outstanding Director
    New York Innovative Theatre Foundation
    Finalist
    2017