by TOM MACKAN August 25 – 31, 2011
Coming right to the point here, this “piece” is by, for, and about men. It’s an original creative work by two men, Trevor Copp and Jeff Fox, for themselves to perform, about themselves. In the way men do, they thrust and parry, playing off each other, testing the testosterone power of each other, looking to establish their roles. Sex, talk of sex, is rife throughout, as are feelings of hurt, joy, betrayal, loyalty, and, brace yourselves, love. A bit of sports comes up, women of course, homophobic slurs and jokes, all the stuff that men feel they must deal with in their quotidian discourse. For its central conflict, there is marriage, often a subject of controversy among men, and in this case, the protagonists are faced with the dilemma of the impending wedding of Trevor, and his anxiety of “the first dance.” Recruited for his experience and expertise in the matter of dancing, friend Jeff provides Trevor the stage on which the story of his way in life through a dance can be told. In the subtext there is another matter, quite seminal to the growth of the story. Let’s leave that for a moment. Suffice to say that this dancing business presents a more universal social dilemma for us to ponder and question.
