THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WAY Comes to Long Beach Playhouse Studio

In 1914, Long Beach leaders hired two bounty hunters to entrapgay men so the city could essentially blackmail and remove them with fines and public humiliation. Most men paid the fine and quietly slipped out of town. One man - a banker - committed suicide and two others sued the city. Playwright Tom Jacobson turned that dark chapter in the city's history into a play entitled The Twentieth Century Way. The play has been produced in Boston, Pasadena and on Broadway. Fittingly, it's coming to the Long Beach Playhouse.

Long Beach was growing quickly, its population nearly doubled between 1913 and 1914. The city had a new mayor, Louis Wheaton, a conservative man who was determined to keep alcohol out of the city, to stop illegal gambling and to run "social vagrants" (code for homosexual) out of town. Mayor Wheaten and the chief of police hired two bounty hunters to find and arrest gay men. Eventually a sting was conducted at clubs and private residences in which it was said men met to engage in cross-dressing and commit homosexual acts. When names of the 31 men arrested in the sting operation were published in the Los Angeles Times all but two pleaded guilty. One of them was a banker named Charles Lamb; he committed suicide by taking cyanide and walking into the ocean. He left a suicide note for his sister. Two others sued, both ultimately won their cases.

"The events in this play are shocking - and yet not shocking. There are still those who endorse this kind of prejudice and punishment for LGBT people," said Sean Gray, Artistic Director for the Playhouse. "LGBT people are still victims of hate crimes and prejudice. Even 104 years later this story still resonates for many of us."

"This story is important to tell," said Madison Mooney, the Playhouse's Executive Director. "Recently our board passed a formal statement about our commitment of inclusion for all members of our community. I think of this show as a way to talk about the importance of human rights and civil rights. And the ease with which both can be violated by small-minded and vindictive people, particularly those with political power."

The play has two actors. They move between the roles of people who took part in the events and the legal case. As these two actors become absorbed within their play-within-a-play, they explore sexual identity, institutional corruption, self-deception, and the mysteries of the craft of the theatre.

Noah Wagner and Christian Jordan Skinner play Warren and Brown (the bounty hunters) and transform into the entrapped, the police chief, and the attorneys. The director is Reed Flores making his Playhouse debut in the director's chair.

This show is poignant and a timely look at an earlier era - one that warns of the dangers of a government infringing on the private right to love.

SPECIAL EVENTS FOR THIS PLAY:

Pay what you can Thursday July 19 - community can see this production for whatever they can afford

Two for One Preview Friday July 20 - Tickets are $10.00

Opening Night Champagne Reception with cast on July 21- Tickets are $27.00

Ticket Pricing:

Friday: Adults are $20.00, Seniors $18.00, and Students $14.00

Saturday and Sunday: Adults are $24.00, Seniors $21.00, and Students $14.00.

Tickets are available at www.lbplayhouse.org, or by calling 562-494-1014, option 1.

Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, right across from the Long Beach Recreation golf course. The Playhouse is community-supported theatre with programs and events that cut across age, gender, ethnic, and cultural boundaries.

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The box office is open Wednesday-Saturday from 3:00-8:00 pm and Sundays from 1:00-2:00 pmon scheduled matinees.

Image Design: Daisy Ramirez