POSTER BOYS
Directed by Bradley Moss. Written by Michele Riml.
Starring Jeff Haslam, Davina Stewart, Frank Zotter, Jesse Gervais. The Roxy (10708-124 St). Nov 26-Dec 13. Tickets available through The Roxy box office (453-2440/theatrenetwork.ca).

“You know what the trouble with this show is?” Pause for dramatic effect. “Trying to keep a straight face while you’re working with these people.”

Actually, Frank Zotter is laughing already. His role as Carson, one of two “poster boys” in Theatre Network’s production of Poster Boys, is, in fact, becoming quite the challenge. Not only is the play one of those rarities that finds the humour in even the most difficult situation, but Zotter is also working with two improv professionals, Die-Nasty favourites Jeff Haslam and Davina Stewart, making rehearsals particularly uproarious.

Indeed, I can hear laughter shaking the walls of The Roxy theatre as I sit in the lobby with Zotter over his third cup of coffee that day. (He thinks that’s a lot. I think he’s showing incredible restraint.) “Laughing too hard is probably the best trouble you can get yourself into,” he quickly adds. And in certain situations it’s the only possible reaction.

Michele Riml’s script was inspired by the real-life hullabaloo surrounding a 2002 Van-
City Credit Union ad campaign which featured a photo of a gay couple and the tagline, “I want to bank with people who value all partnerships.” While the response to the ad was generally positive, the archdiocese of Vancouver’s Catholic Church proceeded to close their account with VanCity and required Catholic schools to end their participation in the credit union’s “junior banking program.”

Though these events inspired Poster Boys, the play is really about individuals — specifically Carson and Jack, the couple who find themselves at the centre of the controversy, and the marketing executive, Caroline, who put them there. “This play really speaks to how we grow through relationships,” Zotter explains. “Particularly in my character’s case, by making their relationship public it becomes even more of a step out of the closet, so to speak. Yes, you can be comfortable in your private world sexually, but when you make yourself known and Joe Blow knows who you are, then you’re looking more specifically at the mirror and it’s held up more profoundly.”

For a little additional complication in an already stressful situation, Caroline is Jack’s ex-fiancée and she has yet to give up on her vision of their life together. “There’s some neat little functions in the play where [Caroline] watches the commercial and fast-forwards it and rewinds it and fast-forwards it and rewinds it,” Zotter says. “Now, this is a woman who still has a romantic fantasy about being with this man who’s left her 13 years ago. But she’s watching him in a relationship with another man. Then she puts herself into the scene, and it’s beautiful because it’s simply setting the table. It’s touching and serious and gorgeous, but it’s also hysterical because you get to watch us go in reverse through all these scenes. That’s the charm of [Riml’s] writing — with every pearl of wisdom or human insight she gives us, she also reveals great humour too, underneath it all.”

The humour in Poster Boys, however, isn’t confined to the script; it’s lurking backstage too, seeing as Zotter’s role isn’t limited to a single character. He must also transform into Caroline’s alter ego, a gorgeous blonde model-type with devilish intentions. “The backstage mayhem in this play would probably be worth selling tickets for,” Zotter says, “because I’m going to be going in and out of character
so fast.”

Exactly how fast?

“Hopefully under 20 seconds,” he says, doubtful. “I’m falling all over my feet with these heels. Help!”
I have no advice for the man, only pity. I buy high heels; I just don’t end up wearing them. “Why are women so mean to themselves? I don’t get that. ‘That’s the price you pay for pretty’? The price you pay for pretty is pretty intense, I must say.”

But is there too high a price to pay for a good laugh? Twenty seconds, a platinum wig, and a pair of stilettos feels like a fair exchange. Especially in the service of a grand theme. And any story that draws attention away from the spin and the controversy that shape public opinion to highlight the real-life love and light that make up individual relationships seems particularly grand to me.