The Toronto Theatre Review: Studio 180 Theatre’s A Public Display of Affection
By Ross
Feeling both flattered and insulted at the same time, Jonathan Wilson (My Own Private Oshawa), writer and performer of Studio 180 Theatre‘s A Public Display of Affection, makes his way to center stage to take on the role of “Queer Elder” in a faux-speech presentation to promote “Queer joy.” It’s a warm and engaging proclamation, filled with love and affection, digging into the Queer history of Toronto starting off in the year 1979. He’s a Queer archelogoist artifact, pulling up rememberences from deep inside that pay homage to and honor some of those he loved, in his own youthful and complicated ways, that aren’t around to tell their stories anymore. It’s an admirable snapshot, made easy by the set & projections designed by Denyse Karn (Stratford’s To Kill a Mockingbird) with determined lighting by André du Toit (Soulpepper’s Three Sisters) and a solid sound design by Lyon Smith (Factory’s The Waltz), that unpacks the random voices that lurk around in the dark, speaking words to someone you just met over an anonymous phone line (before the days of chatrooms and apps), so that you feel somewhat seen, heard, and not so alone in this wild wild world on Toronto’s Yonge Street, the new frontier for Queer exploration and pride.
Interestingly, I just noticed I’ve used the word “Queer” four or five times in that paragraph, and although, back in the day of 1979, that word wasn’t as commonly used as it is now, unless it was flung like a coke bottle at your head outside of a Halloween Party on Yonge Street, along with a few other words I won’t honor here. But as directed with a gentle hand by Mark McGrinder (Studio 180’s Four Minutes Twelve Seconds), A Public Display of Affection finds its jumpy taxidermy dive into the history of this town with an affection and a care that is endearing and sweet. Wilson is a charming tour guide, giving us plenty to chuckle at during his somewhat fractured and zigzag walk-through a Queer Village (not ghetto) that feels honest and absolutely loving. He’s a man who has always wanted to dance with the boys and play in the sand at the gay beach on Toronto Island. And in his profoundly moving tour, we hold hands with this tom-boy gay man in Queer revelation and love that enlightens and engages.
During the 80-minute show, I was doing a bit of math in my head as he talked us through his time on the streets of Toronto and all those downtown gay bars, like Katrina’s and komrads, that I too found a wonderful escape inside of. It feels like Wilson and I are about the same age, yet, I didn’t make it to the streets of Toronto until my first year of university, up at York, around nineteen or twenty years old, living on campus, a far’s cry from the “nasty, sleezy” places that Wilson so lovingly called “fantastic.” And even then, it wasn’t until around 1985 that I really engaged with the Gay downtown scene, working at the Living Well Cafe across the street from Katrina’s and pseudo-dating the club manager, Tommy Paradise. I know, his name sounds like it’s from a B-movie, and maybe our ‘dating’ was more of a fabrication in my oh-so-innocent and naive mind than anything I now know. But it was also a time of courageous pride and brave determination to stand tall and “Queer” in a world that wasn’t exactly our friend. And I was lucky to have my own band of gay boys around me to help me fashion the life I wanted, so safe and secure in their love and guidance.
I must admit I was searching the photos projected on those back walls with nostalgia, but also hoping to find recognition, maybe a bit of myself or someone else who was a part of those wild nights when I was working the late shift at the Living Well, feeling our authentic selves come closer to the surface than ever before. It was a raw, emotional experience back then, and now to reengage with through the sweet smiling eyes of Wilson, holding our hands as we connect to this rear view mirror adventure.
I also must say that the second half of this one-person connection is far more focused and emotional than the sweet, fragmented meandering that got us there. Maybe Studio 180 Theatre‘s A Public Display of Affection, in association with Crow’s Theatre, needed to take its time in the stroll through all those known streets during a very different time and place for us to fully understand our present. I could have done without the condo sales pitch in the middle. That was a bit distracting, unrequired, and took me out of the whole experience for a moment, but overall, I was ever-so pleased to join with Wilson on this solid guided tour through his fragmented puzzle-solving experience that never seems to be completely done, as new pieces for a much large puzzle always seem to turn up and ask, most lovingly, to be reclaimed and reexamined. And I’m very glad and thankful that Wilson is present enough to be in his present place refashioning it all “with a touch of poetic license” for our viewing pleasure.
