Made For Each Other, by Tucson playwright Monica Bauer, is a play about total acceptance.
Multifaceted, it deals with gay marriage, Alzheimer’s and smoking intervention. But ultimately it’s all about acceptance, told in a one-hour dramedy.
New York actor John Fico plays the role of both Vincent, the older gay man who is overly conscious of his love handles and lack of abs; and Jerry, 10 years younger, a male nurse who also visits his Mother in the “A” ward every week.
“I’m kind of jealous of the two of them together,” Vincent admits, perhaps revealing to the audience just a little TMI. How low must your self-esteem descend to be jealous of another man’s affection for his Mother? Vincent’s psychological problems manifest themselves throughout the play, and trigger the denouement as well. An interesting twist, it gives a positive ending to a hopeless situation.
We also see things from the perspective of Jerry. “Vincent is coming out of the closet for me,” he says. “Vincent’s whole generation grew up lying about themselves.” His unconditional acceptance of Vincent is what most gay men over 50 hope for, but rarely find. Fico also portrays a family member from the past of both gay characters, signifying the change of character by a simple wardrobe alteration. It is a difficult situation to keep the entwined roles separate when performed by one person, but he did an admirable job.
Asked how he personally deals with this one-man role, Fico joked “You have to be careful how much water you drink beforehand.” But seriously, he explained the play “Is an opportunity to tell you – the audience – what I’m thinking. I would much rather talk to you than anybody on stage.”
A serious play with many delights along the way, Made For Each Other was a special treat for the 49th anniversary of Invisible Theatre.
For more about this play, read my interview with the playwright at this link:
Made for Each Other was performed on Nov. 16 and 17, 2019
Photo by C Cunningham, shows John Fico and Monica Bauer at Invisible Theatre discussing the play.
