New plays are often inspired by current events, but in the theater, the pipeline between conception and production is often a lengthy one. "Current" becomes a relative term.
Playwright Brad Erickson's new play was certainly inspired by current events, but he didn't know just how current it would wind up when he sat down with the morning paper on June 30. That was Pride Sunday, just a few days after the Supreme Court's ruling that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.
"I was getting ready to enjoy the festivities," Erickson said, "and I'm reading an article in the business section about the DOMA decision, and how the federal government would have to recognize any legitimate marriage wherever it takes place in the world. And that certainly would make it easier to bring a non-citizen who you married into the country. And I thought, oh no, there goes my second act."
The play in question is American Dream, El sueno del otro lado, opening New Conservatory Theatre Center's new season on Aug. 24. It's the story of a man in his 40s who came out late after a lengthy marriage, and who falls in love with a Spanish instructor while visiting San Miguel in Mexico. For various reasons, the Mexican had not been able to get a visa, and now the ex-wife is in a position to either help or hinder his immigration status.
Erickson didn't start updating his play on that Pride Sunday, preferring instead to head to City Hall to officially marry his partner. But soon thereafter the rewriting began, and Erickson decided to straddle the DOMA divide. "Now the first act takes place in May of 2013, and the second act takes place in July of 2013," Erickson said. "So we're actually watching a play that takes place last month. How often does that happen in the theater?"
Erickson's previous play, The War at Home, produced at NCTC in 2006, also had same-sex marriage as a theme. He thought about updating that play, too, for the sake of future productions. "But no," he decided, "because Charleston, S.C., certainly doesn't have gay marriage."
The War at Home was not autobiographical, but it certainly had personal and geographical parallels to his own life. That's true of American Dream, too, even if the specifics stray further from Erickson's experiences. He, for example, has been "studying Spanish forever and ever," and has traveled numerous times to picturesque San Miguel, where many Americans flock to learn the language. "And I was chatting for quite a while online with this Mexican guy who had fallen in love with an American who lived in San Diego. He couldn't get a visa, so he moved to Tijuana, where they tried to have a cross-border relationship, but it was just too much, and the relationship fell apart."
Playwright Brad Erickson had to revise American Dream after the Supreme Court's DOMA decision.
Another major component of the play is the relationship between Tom and Cara, the ex-spouses who share raising their teenage daughter. They have remained best friends, at least until a serious contender for Tom's heart enters the scene. "Not to give too much away," Erickson said, "but she holds a lot of power over what will happen to Salvador."
The Tom-Cara dynamic, in which the husband changed the game plan by coming out, is another element in the play that has a relationship to Erickson's life. "I was cohabitating with a woman in my early 20s, and then we had to break up, and it was very painful for both of us," he said. "It's not that rare that gay people, when they are younger, are in significant relationships with a straight person and then come out. But I don't think we hear that story too much, and a big part of the play is about telling that story."
Erickson is in his 10th year as executive director of Theatre Bay Area, a service organization that promotes and supports hundreds of local theater entities. As he resumed a playwriting career with The War at Home, and continues now with American Dream, he has been careful not to seem to be using his TBA position to promote his own work.
"I haven't had my wrists slapped for having my own work produced," he said. "Quite the opposite, they were really excited to know that I was having a play produced. And when I acted in Octopus at the Magic, half the board came to see me buck naked on the stage. That was kind of weird, but hello."