Plays by Michael Conley, including...

At rise, Bryan is downstage,

lost in thought:

​

"Am I gay man who happens

to be Deaf?  Or a Deaf man

who just happens to be gay?"

​

So begins Reading Lips, a play about being gay, being deaf and the challenges of being on the cusps of two different cultures.

​

It is one of ten comedy-dramas Michael Conley has written about his own experiences growing up in the Midwest, living in New York and as a Deaf man.  

​

In a collection of two-character one-acts, you'll meet gay men negotiating the perils of sex first and dating afterwards: First Date.  In Frank Talk, a man is horrified to learn that a friend is straight and he never recognized it.  Epidemic Episodes covers the AIDS crisis from the 1980s into the new century in four pithy and angry scenes. 

(Each of the plays above has been produced separately, and have been combined to make up an evening of theater under the umbrella title, Men About Town.)

Franklin and His Friends, a long one-act, goes back to the 1950s to understand the fears and excitement that our gay forebears faced. 

​

You'll also meet women and men in settings outside the gay world. The Doppler Effect exposes social media as an enabler that helps people avoid commitment.  Rudolf  Bing at Twilight explores the nature of artistic integrity.  

​

Five Endings, which has been produced more than any of Conley's plays, uses Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's model of death and grieving to resolve the end of a relationship.  (And it's a comedy too.)  Speed Dating takes you on a roller coaster ride of meeting five couples in 20 minutes - all portrayed by two actors.

​

Each play - even the shortest - offers actors and directors the opportunity to create full-rounded characters in plays that have a full arc.