←Recommendations of Hey

A gorgeous slice of life long-gone. Today, "Wade" has the world in his phone, which may provide a breadcrumb trail to the future to pathways he might follow, or role models, videos, ideas, images, community, even. Not so much in 1982. Heck -- 1982, even MTV is in its infancy, and not everyone had it as part of their cable. (If they had cable.) This play waxes beautifully, is as strong on the page as any piece of poetry, yet beats with a sensitive, emotional heart. Stunning work.

This brings back a lot of memories. Most of them good. There was nothing like looking at a Calvin Klein model on the boxes of underwear. And if we weren't gay before seeing them, most of us who had the right wiring were certainly gay afterwards. Hey paints such a picture with young Wade just coming into his own sexuality and the shopping for underwear with his mom is priceless as it is embarrassing for us to read about it. Like I said, a lot of memories. Most of them very good.

Hey! Read this clever script! I hope you like it as much as I did!

Some coming of age rituals are just absolutely devastating for a young man already feeling out of sorts. The shop for clothes is one of them, and shopping for underwear is the worst. But Vince Gatton shows us this ritual from not only the POV of mom and son, but from a uniquely hilarious source as well, the package of underwear. The allowance of only one word the underwear can use speaks volumes though, and would be a challenge for any actor standing around in just his, well, underwear. Funny and heart-breaking at the same time. Nicely done Vince.

Emotionally taut and heartbreaking. This short about a young teen who is desperate to hide his sexuality from a mother who already knows hits very close and very hard. Personifying the underwear is brilliant, and despite the limited vocabulary, this piece gives the actor so much to work with. “Hey” is a fantasy but feels so real and grounded. A powerful piece.

Vince Gatton paints a sweet and appealing portrait of a young adolescent from rural Kentucky struggling with emotions he can neither control nor understand. Steven Martin below makes the shrewd point that the mother is not the bovine oblivious hick she may at first appear. But the greatest acting challenge may be the Calvin Klein underwear model who must not only look the part, but must inflect his sole word of dialogue in so many ways. This is one case where emotional cues to the actor (and reader) are not only called for but essential.

What I love most about "Hey," Vince Gatton's coming-of-age short comedy -- and there is a LOT to love -- is that, at its core, it's about a mother who loves her son. Cheryl ultimately knows Wade will not be like most boys, and she supports him and his interests entirely. Cheryl may be a practical, direct, blue-collar mom, but she may know more about Wade than Wade may know about himself.

I also love that "Hey" takes place in a rural setting, eastern Kentucky. We need more of these stories.

I'm willing to bet that most gay men had their first realization of their sexual identity by seeing something like a Calvin Klein underwear ad: an abstract and unattainable object of visceral lust, and the awareness of it where even if it cannot be spoken or even acknowledged, it cannot be denied. Vince Gatton perfectly captures the moment when it happens, and does it in such a way that you can't help but feel exactly what this young man is going through.

I thought I had gotten past the abject lust and terror of getting caught gazing at homoerotic Calvin Klein underwear packaging (as it were) at the mall back in the formative 1980s but thanks to Vince Gatton, I realize I've just repressed those feelings and they've been lurking just below the surface all these years.

Thanks for that, Vince.

HEY perfectly captures closeted gay teen boy awkwardness, particularly of that era, from desire and instilled self-loathing to unexpected hope and encouragement.

But mostly it's a hologram of embarrassment that'll give many of us red-faced flashbacks.

So thanks again.

Funny and touching. I haven't seen anything like it but I recognize the characters immediately. Love it!