We Did Not Talk

While sitting at a candidate’s night before the recent primary my friend Silagh asked me if I wanted to attend Tony Kushner’s new play, The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide To Capitalism And Socialism With A Key To The Scriptures. She thought I would be a good resource for trying to understand some of the underlying themes and currents of this very multi-layered play. I am a gay man of a certain age who has survived the dark days of AIDS and had spent enough quality time in New York during the 80’s and 90’s to understand some of Mr. Kushner’s references. This play was so clear and its meanings so evident and its message are so universal I am pretty certain that Silagh did not need me there, but I am so happy and dare I say blessed that I had the opportunity to attend.

We had a great day beginning with a relatively easy bus ride into the city. The bus had free WIFI so we pulled out our mobile devices and off we went. On the bus I read some stories about Tony Kushner but I did not read any reviews of the play itself. Not that anyone else’s opinion matter but I did not want the New York Times or New York magazine in the back of mind as I was watching the play. We had intended to visit a museum before the play but decided a nice walk down 5^th Avenue to have drinks and snacks at Mesa Grill. It gave us an opportunity to talk some more. This is something Silagh and I do a lot of.

I met Silagh more than a year ago via Twitter, we then met for lunch, I learned how to pronounce her name, we talked so much we barely ate our food and we have been talking ever since. On the way home, however, we did not discuss the play, I think we were both so drained, so overwhelmed, so moved by what we had just witnessed that our words would just seem small compared to Tony Kushner’s, I know mine were/are insufficient. During both intermissions I fled the theater to a) compose myself, b) to try to comprehend and c) to try to find the words to express my thoughts, emotions and the resulting feelings. I called home and said things like; “Oh My God”, “I am so drained”, “This is amazing”, “Stunning” etc. I could not find the words then and I am still struggling with the appropriate words to express my reactions. On the way home Silagh and I did not discuss the play, in fact we spoke very little. We just processed and learned.